We’ve spent the past month talking about changing lives through sport, and our Education Through Cashback (ETC) programme, combining youth work and sport to enhance knowledge of the ‘Sport for Change’ approach, is a way you can get involved and use sport to change lives.
The practical, interactive modules develop an understanding of working with young people and encourage personal development through sport. Training is flexible and adapted to suit the needs of the group. The modules are SCQF accredited, giving participants a tangible qualification recognising their work.
ETC is suitable for:
Experienced youth workers, coaches, volunteers and other practitioners looking to increase their knowledge of delivering sport for change programmes and understanding of the developmental value of sport and physical activity.
Young leaders who are newer to coaching and looking to develop their skills and confidence in delivering activities effectively to a range of young people.
Young people experiencing a challenge, eg at risk of exclusion, low-attainment, who wish to develop skills that can be transferred into everyday life, through participation in practical sessions adapted to their needs.
Victoria Clark, one of our lead tutor team, talks about her year with ETC.
I’ve loved learning from all of the young people I’ve worked with through my 2018-19 ETC journey. I am one of the Lead Tutor team with the ETC programme and facilitate a range of workshops with clients.
Working in partnership with the young people. enabling them to explore, to find their own answers, to apply and problem solve through practical sessions has been key. I take an individual approach to each workshop while ensuring the young people meet the outcomes required of the qualification. It has to be this way, to truly put the young people at the centre of what we do, and to engage them on their personal journeys. This requires a flexible and creative approach over time that is built upon trust. This can come with challenges, trusting in the young people and the process enables success. You can see the ongoing development of each person. Sometimes this means a young person has the confidence to speak in front of their peers for the first time , they make friends with someone they’ve not met before, others led warm ups, full sessions, join clubs, gain places in college or university, or volunteer for hours every week to give back.
Travelling throughout Scotland to offer local opportunities, courses have been delivered as far as Dingwall, Elgin, and Stranraer and many places in between. I love the opportunity to explore Scotland.
I’ve shared some of the projects I’ve been involved with throughout 2018-19 below. I’ve been one person working, amongst many within each project, empowering young people through sport and physical activity.
Chance:2:Be
Arriving at an SSF workshop one evening, one of the participants headed over to meet me, she had been part of a previous Chance:2:Be programme. Opening the door and grabbing my bags she walked me up to the workshop room. She chatted the whole way up the stairs telling me stories of the volunteering she is now involved with (every night of the week, some of which includes 2 buses just to get there), and her successful college application. This has been one of my highlights of the year. Seeing the journey of this girl from day 1 of the Chance:2:Be programme to where she is now. It’s also been great to see some of participants from Chance:2:Be 1 now coming along to support the delivery of the 4th project. Throughout Chance:2:Be, the participants were given the opportunity to participate in a range of ETC workshops.
Scottish Disability Sport Young Start Apprentices
I’m one of a team of mentors at Scottish Disability Sport empowering young people with learning, sensory and physical disabilities to achieve their coaching and leadership goals. Bringing both programmes together enabled some of the young people involved in this programme to gain SCQF accredited ETC qualifications. It was great to see everyone supporting one another as they delivered their sessions as part of the communication workshop. Learning balloon modelling and some sign language were definite highlights from the weekend that we are still talking about.
Glasgow Fever Basketball Club
Glasgow Fever: Where People Make the Game. The club took a group of U16 Girls on a residential experience. The girls focused on developing their basketball and personal skills. The ETC Planning and Goal Setting workshops were integrated throughout the weekend. The course content was broken down over the weekend, enabling messaging to be built upon at key moments. The team work shown by the girls helping one another to achieve was excellent. They all left having achieved a range of qualifications through sport.
Scottish Swimming Young Event Coordinators
The buzz at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on the morning of the session really drew you in. It was great to be working with the newly recruited Young Event Co-ordinators right at the heart of the event. The meeting room where the ETC Planning Sport and Physical Activity programme workshop was being held looked directly onto the pool where all the action was taking place. I’m looking forward to seeing how these young people develop through this pilot programme.
SFA Volunteer Inspire Project and Shell Twilight
A Fort William girl, I love working in the Highlands so I grabbed the opportunity to work in Inverness, Dingwall and Nairn (a favourite spot from my childhood). These projects also took me to Elgin, Dundee, Stranraer, and Cumbernauld. The Shell Twilight Friday night projects offered young people to chance to gain ETC SCQF qualifications through the sport they love.
ETC: Changing Lives Through Sport. Bring on 19/20!
See our pages for more information on training for practitioners and training for young people.
Find out more about Victoria here.
