Our work with London Sports Trust
We are proud to have a long running sponsorship agreement with London Sport Trust (LST). During the last few years, we have hosted numerous community days at the Canalside Activity Centre organised by LST. Details for our next community day will be posted here on our website and on X (previously Twitter). We invite you all to come along. Food, games, competitions, music, art, climbing, and water sports activities are organised and provided. These community days have provided us the opportunity to meet residents, families and young children from the local area and to discuss ways in which our scheme can benefit them and the future of Ladbroke Grove.
Our partnership has also enabled LST to provide free weekly sessions offering a variety of exciting programmes including ‘Think Adventure’, ‘Active Communities’, ‘Skills for Life’and ‘Young Ambassadors’.
‘Think Adventure’ is an outdoor adventure programme for young people who are struggling at school, have been referred to us by partners at youth clubs or have been referred to us bythe Met Police as they have been identified as being at risk of being involved in antisocial behaviour.
‘Active Communities’ is a weekly family session which helps children to participate in activities such as water sports and cooking with their parents or carers giving them lifetime shared experiences.
‘Skills for Life’ is a unique programme of life skills including cooking, finance, DIY and customer service which supports young people to be more independent.
LST have also supported two ‘Young Ambassadors’ this year. Having initially volunteered on other programmes, the two young individuals have now been trained up and are helping LST with their youth club and holiday programme coordination. Ahmed is a local young person with mild autism from St. Charles College and LST is hoping to take him on when he leaves next year.
LST has also been able to provide additional after school and holiday programmes for children to take part in water sports and dry land activities as well as providing food for local children living within a 2-mile radius who receive free school meals [vouchers].
Our partnership has provided LST with the funding needed to buy a range of new equipment to replace very old kit including lifejackets for 20 children and two new double kayaks.
This year, our partnership has enabled LST to support over 450 children and young people from the local communities at the Canalside Activity Centre.
Through our scheme, we will be re-providing the Canalside Activity Centre as multi-sport facility for LST who will be involved throughout the design, planning and construction phases. We have held several workshops with LST to understand their requirements and preferences, and how we can best integrate them into our scheme, ensuring their needs are met. We will be providing two new activity areas, the boat house for kayak and water sports facilities and bike workshops, and the activity centre, for sports such as basketball and football. We are also looking at providing garden beds, for LST’s kitchen and catering classes, an indoor climbing wall and office space for LST staff and training.
We believe supporting younger generations is essential for ensuring a positive future for them, and for the rest of the community.
“Our partnership and support from Ballymore is helping London Sports Trust to reach more local children and young people to experience water sports and lifeskills in a safe and fun environment.” – Ulick Tarabanov, Founder & CEO
