Satellite Clubs working with Scrappers Gym


Satellite Clubs have helped thousands of young people get active across Wiltshire and Swindon since 2013.


The Case study below shows the impact that Satellite Club investment is having on influencing the community sport sector to provide opportunities that better meet the needs of young people, provide positive experiences and result in young people getting and staying active.


Scrappers Gym Ability Counts


Scrappers Gym, Agility and Fitness for All session provides a unique free opportunity for local Swindon residents with disabilities to take part in boxing sessions aimed to improve physical fitness as well as mental well-being. The weekly sessions are led by a combination of qualified and highly regarded paid and volunteer instructors at the purpose-built facility.


Scrappers Boxing Gym and Community Fitness Centre was set up in November 2011 to provide a low-cost alternative to expensive commercial fitness centres. It provided access to fitness equipment for all allowing more people, especially young people and those on low incomes to increase their health and fitness.


Scrappers Gym operates on an honesty policy for those training there. With a low cost of £3 for a young person under


15 years and £4 for anyone over 16 years. No one is ever turned away from using the gym.


Swindon has several local ward areas near the Scrappers Gym that appear in the national Indices of Multiple Deprivation and also features a high concentration of young people with both physical disabilities and learning difficulties. In national and local surveys, it also features above the national average for adult inactivity and childhood obesity rates.


This project addressed the need for more people with disabilities to engage in regular exercise. This group of people have traditionally been excluded from commercial gyms due to lack of accessibility both in terms of physical access and services that meet their needs. Two in ten (18%) disabled people participate in physical activities compared to four in ten (29%) of non- disabled people.


Funding has come from the Bruce Wake Charitable Trust, Zurich Community Trust as well as National Lottery funding from Sport England via Wiltshire and Swindon Sport through the Satellite Club Project.


This money was earmarked for the purchase of equipment to support the growth and enhance the quality of the sessions.


In addition to this, funding was used for training up new volunteer coaches to support the session some of whom have physical impairments themselves. The sessions therefore paid a lead coach and are supported by other volunteer coaches to help keep the ongoing costs down.


The high number of volunteer coaches also increases the capacity of the session to cater for more young people and provides a high coach to participant ratio. This helps develop a stronger rapport between instructor and participant and keeping motivation high.


Currently an average of 25-30 young people attend sessions on a weekly basis and on a wider basis the gym has worked directly with over 2,460 young people within the last year


Young people’s mental health and physical wellbeing have been positively affected through the project:


Participants comments:


“Scrappers Gym has really helped me through some difficult times; I suffer from bouts of depression and Tourette’s. My confidence has increased due to some weight loss and I am a lot more active and happier.”


“Scrappers is a great place not only for learning the art of boxing but for fitness that helps all ages.”


Olivia McCann CEO stated: “Scrappers Gym not only helps to improve and develop fitness and physical well-being, but also helps them to improve their confidence and self-esteem as well as teaching them discipline and self-control. The project has proven to develop peoples physical, social and mental well-being as well as raising their aspiration levels, increasing confidence and self-esteem. This enables them to perform better in life in general and helps people to make better life choices, develop team-working skills and wider social and personal skills.”


As well as participating in these sessions, Scrappers has empowered and supported young people with impairments to get involved in helping to deliver activities. This has led to their increased confidence levels and physical and mental well-being as well as providing fantastic role models to the session participants and local community.


Working with Swindon Scrapstore and Olivia in particular, was a first in working with an organisation with a strong ethos and history or fundraising to help sustain activity, compared to most which rely almost entirely on participant contributions. The success of the programme has shown that this approach can work extremely effectively.


https://scrappersgym.co.uk/history-of-scrappers-gym/


If you would like to know more about the Satellite Club programme please contact Simon Woodhouse from Wiltshire and Swindon Sport (WASP) on Simon@wiltssport.org.uk.


8 Wiltshire and Swindon Relay


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