From No GCSE to Top Grades: How Bristol City Helped Millie.

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Mille joined the Bristol City’s Robins Education programme in 2018, shy, lacking confidence, and with no self-belief after not passing any of her GCSE exams. She found herself unsure of the direction in which she wanted her life to go in. An advertisement for the Robins Foundation Education programme appeared whilst she was trawling social media one night. Despite being nervous, Millie pulled through her uncertainty to attend a taster session to find out more about what the course entailed.

She immediately built a rapport with the coaches and other girls just like her who would be on the same course, consequently Millie enjoyed her time and would soon find herself starting the course. It didn’t take her long to start to emerge from the shell she had burrowed herself into and built a strong relationship with her Sports Lecturer Chloe Rogers. Part of the course required students to complete a certain number of volunteer hours within the academic year. This took her out of her comfort zone and gave her a sense of responsibility she had not had before.

Millie volunteered through various avenues at Bristol City from overseeing the family zone on match days to supporting coaches at holiday camps. As well as this, she also helped out at sessions the Foundation run including Wildcats, Foster Care Sessions and Pan Disability Sessions.

From volunteering, Millie found her passion and quickly realised she wanted to pursue a career in coaching. Through her course and hours of volunteering Millie swiftly developed her coaching skills and secured a part-time coaching job whilst studying.

After 4 years with the Robins Foundation and Education programme, Millie has completed the BTEC Level 3 in National Extended Diploma in Sports and the Foundation Degree in Community Coaching and Development. Millie has now secured a full-time job as a Head Coach with Future Stars.

Sports Lecturer Chloe Rogers said: “Millie is a prime example of what empowering young females can do for females in the industry. Millie has been on a remarkable journey throughout her time at the foundation and this is all down to just a bit of belief in herself, from having minimal GCSE to graduating with the highest grade possible (D*D*D*) alongside 200 + Volunteering hours and a Level 1 Coaching qualification.

It has been a pleasure to witness her growth and see her impact on young females involved in other projects we run and the positive influence she has on young females getting involved in the sport. Millie was an asset to the classroom and her behavior, conversations, and assignments were always a joy to witness. I am very proud of everything Millie has achieved she is as unique as the course we run.”

Millie Rose said: “From starting The Robins Foundation as a young 16-year-old, lacking self-belief, confidence and purpose my four year journey has now come to end with me leaving the Robins Foundation with confidence, character and knowledge. I am going on to a job that I would never have imagined I would achieve – along with the most amazing memories/experience of my journey.”

Port Vale Foundation have been increasing the confidence of young people with disabilities on the NCS programme

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Through NCS with Port Vale Foundation, young people with disabilities at Kemball School have pushed through their comfort zones and acquired new skills and confidence. Young people on NCS were given the exciting opportunity to shadow staff at Port Vale FC, learning key workplace skills and developing their own job application acumen, enabling them to be work ready.

Port Vale Foundation began its collaborative work with Kemball School back in February this year, where NCS Skills Booster sessions were provided to assist the young people in a number of critical key areas such as; developing their own aspirations, gaining independence, acquiring employability and creating successful job application forms.

Throughout their experiences on NCS and with workshops such as, presentation and public speaking skills, the young people started to develop their skills and with it, simultaneously, their confidence.

A teacher from Kemball School had this to say about the programme:

“Pupils at Kemball School have had a difficult time over the last two years due to being unable to get out and about in the community. This being a skill which is vital for their preparation for adulthood skills. We were approached by Port Vale Foundation and were offered the NCS skills booster sessions.

From the first session, the pupils were engaged with the staff and were showing signs of wanting to get out of their comfort zones.”

In addition to the skills booster sessions, Port Vale FC hosted an NCS Takeover day, which was also referred to as ‘A Day in the Life of’. This was an exciting opportunity for the young people to shadow a key member of staff at the football club or foundation for the day, allowing them to gain essential work experience, as well as a peek into the working day lives of the Port Vale staff.

The young people were given exposure to a number of different roles at Port Vale, such as Hospitality, Groundskeeping, Marketing, Media and Operations. For the day, they were tasked on developing applications forms for the highlighted roles, and were to voice why they should be selected to be within that role for the day.

After gaining an insight into the roles they were shadowing, the young people were then thrilled to have been given exclusive access at the stadium, in which they also met Boomer the Port Vale FC mascot.

The young people made magnificent strides within such as short time frame, as they developed their skills and confidence through the sessions. They learnt first-hand on-the-job, the skills and attributes required to be working within the workplace. The young people made a huge impression on staff and have been invited back for more work experience at The Vale.

As a token of gratitude for all fantastic experiences and skills learnt, the young people wrote thank you letters to the staff members that they had shadowed for the day.

Jorgie Wallace, NCS Project Lead at Port Vale Foundation highlighted the day:

“On the day, the young people shone, they came out of their comfort zones and they were fantastic within their job roles. I am really excited that we have begun work with Kemball school and I am looking forward to what we can offer and the opportunities for the young people.

We are really excited for the NCS programme we are delivering to the year 11 cohort in May. Well done everyone!”

Port Vale Foundation have been working meticulously with delivering its NCS programme and impacting young people’s lives for the better within the community. As a part of their mission, Port Vale Foundation partner with 3 local SEND (Special Education Needs school) one of them being Kemball School, with the strong intention of allowing all young people to have equal opportunities and experiences.

To find out more about NCS, click here.

Niraj aims to be a role model for younger generations after graduating the degree programme with Preston North End Community and Education Trust

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Having completed the degree programme with the University of South Wales and Preston North End Community and Education Trust, Niraj aims to be a role model for the younger generations.

Niraj has been involved in the education courses with Preston for a total of five years having joined them after completing his GCSEs in 2016. Consequently, he always desired to pursue a career in sport and after attending the PNECET open evening, he was adamant to continue his journey in coaching.

He explained: “This was different in that I was in charge. I needed to drive what I wanted to learn. In school you have many subjects not all of them were for me, here I was given the structure, the tools and fantastic guidance from my tutors, especially Graeme Atkinson and Jodi Collum, they really treated us like adults but with clear leadership as to what was expected of us and the pitfalls of missing deadlines of submissions of assignments etc.”

Moreover, during his Level 3 BTEC, Niraj was an individual who wasn’t afraid to go out into schools to aid staff with their initiatives and this has benefitted him with his later endeavours. With a keen interest in futsal, he picked up his Level 2 Football Coaching qualification whilst delivering futsal at his local external club.

As a result of numerous real-world learning experiences, Niraj said: “My confidence has rocketed, and I feel I can manage many stakeholders from young children, young adults to parents. I understand the various facets that the trust is engaged in and more importantly how it contributes to the welfare of the overall community. I feel privileged to have the network of the community trust. I have matured and become professional and that is all due to the trust supporting me and guiding me.”

One of these experiences is supporting the delivery of Primary Stars in schools at a number of predominantly Asian speaking schools in Preston where he now sees himself “as an ambassador for PNECET”. With such an influence on the younger generation, he said: “I feel honoured that I am representing the trust and I know from the feedback I receive from the children at numerous schools that some of them including some very young ones who say they also want to be a coach and work for PNETCET. This gives me a real buzz and I know each day will be different with their own challenges that help shape and develop me further.”

Niraj is a valued member of the part-time staff at the Trust, but he now wants to continue his personal growth and development “secure a full-time role with PNECET and lead by example to other students.”

“This opportunity has opened new and exciting doors that were not open to me before.”

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Stuart Sorensen struggled with attaining any tangible work opportunities after graduating from university. However, after working with Burton Albion Community Trust and Burton Albion Academy on their Kickstart programme, Stuart was able to develop his expertise, confidence and acquire a full-time role.

Stuart, recently graduated from university with a Master’s Degree in Politics. Like many young people during the pandemic, Stuart found it difficult to secure a full-time role or gain experience.

However, when discovering the opportunity to work as a Kickstart Administration & Operations Assistant at Burton Albion Community Trust and Academy, this was the catalyst for Stuart’s career.

Stuart talks about his initial experience with Kickstart:

“I was shown this opportunity by my work coach which fused my interest in working in the community and my love for sports. Due to this, I thought it was an opportunity worth taking and have not regretted the decision since.”

“The kickstart role has allowed me to gain experience and confidence in a variety of ways. This has allowed me to take on extra responsibilities in my new role. I also believe that the confidence and the skills that I have acquired during my time with Burton, will allow me to move forward with any future roles that may come my way.”

“This opportunity has opened new and exciting doors that were not open to me before.”

Stuart was able to a develop his own skills during his role. He played an integral role in coordinating matchday games for players in the U9’s-U19’s programmes.

“We have seen the appreciation we get from the players, parents, coaches, and referees for the effort that we put into our games programme. The one game that I thought was enjoyable to work on was the FA Youth Cup first round game, where the U19s played against Sheffield Wednesday at the Pirelli Stadium. It was really satisfying to help assist on such a big occasion and I look forward to doing more with the Academy in the future.”     

Other activities which Stuart was involved in as a part of his role included; Communicating with internal and external stakeholders, preparing large events placed by the Club Academy, assisting with updating and developing a wide-range of policies, as well as gaining a general understanding of the day-to-day operations of the Academy.  

After generating an overwhelming impact, Stuart was able to secure his role full-time at Burton Albion Community Trust and Academy, in which Stuart pays his gratitude to Kickstart, as it allowed him to develop essential skills:

“The kickstart role has allowed me to gain experience and confidence in a variety of ways which has helped in taking on additional responsibilities. The confidence and the skills that I have acquired during my time with Burton, will allow me to move forward with any future roles that may come my way. This opportunity has opened new and exciting doors that were not open to me before.”

“The support during Kickstart has been excellent and being given the opportunity to help other kickstarter’s now in my new role is a pleasure. I have had a great opportunity to work with the club and I am grateful for the chance to continue to work with my colleagues in the Academy and Community Trust, and continue to help them on the journey that we are on together!“

Click here to find out more about Kickstart.