Wigan Athletic’s Life Chances Programme Helps Students Develop their Leadership Skills

Wigan Athletic’s Life Chances Programme Helps Students Develop their Leadership Skills

Secondary school students at Wigan Engagement Centre run ‘Fun Day’ for primary school students.

Through Wigan Athletic Community Trust‘s ‘Life Chances’ programme, their staff have been helping students develop their confidence, social skills and leadership skills. The programme works with people at risk of offending or becoming NEET (Not in education, employment or training), and aims to help young people improve their behaviour, learn new skills and raise their aspirations through a combination of mentoring, workshops and enrichment activities, helping young people to integrate back into the community and have a positive impact on the people around them.

“The impact is massive. The workshops that we deliver show that they can actually stand up, deliver, be confident, use their social skills and engage.”

Jack Turner, Youth Engagement Officer

Last month, Wigan Athletic Community Trust worked with Secondary School students at Wigan Engagement Centre to help them plan and run a ‘Fun Day’ for the Primary School students who also attend the Centre. Through the Life Chances programme, Community Trust staff have been delivering workshops at the Centre, surrounding topics such as drugs and internet safety, with the aim of helping the students develop their confidence, social skills and leadership skills.

Life Chances Programme

“The children really look forward to Alex and Jack [WACT Youth Engagement Officers] coming in, it’s an opportunity for the children to be taught by someone other than the Centre staff. The Fun Day is a really great opportunity for the secondary students to be role models and it helps them develop their patience because they’re working with younger children, who might find the activities quite challenging.”

Vicky Schumacher, Deputy Head at the Engagement Centre

“The importance of it is to show that they’ve got that confidence, those communication skills, those social skills that we work on weekly, and it’s to give them leadership qualities and skills to actually deliver the sessions themselves. The impact is massive. The workshops that we deliver show that they can actually stand up, deliver, be confident, use their social skills and engage.”

Jack Turner, Youth Engagement Officer at the Trust