Our charity is proud to support a range of regional projects that help sometimes disadvantaged children to enjoy added focus when trying a new sport. Over 1,500 schools have now registered for our unique golf programme Unleash Your Drive that not only introduces young people to the core skills of golf but also key mental toughness tools that are proven to benefit their overall mental wellbeing. Some 10% of the schools registering are for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or have a SEND focus.
A recent example came in support of Warren Clark Golfing Dreams (WCGD), a Surrey charity that is committed to helping young people with special educational needs and disability to gain great experiences through golf.
The Golf Foundation is enabling Warren, who is a qualified Community Golf Instructor (CGI), to deliver our life skills programme into five local schools who specialise in SEND provision, before hosting a School Games festival and further coaching sessions at nearby Horne Park Golf Club.
Our team has provided a Golfway Primary Play kitbag full of the fun and safe-to-use equipment that children respond so well towards; also training and resources for teachers and volunteers, and a supportive coaching grant.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity for my own inclusive charity Warren Clark Golfing Dreams to have a partnership with the Golf Foundation,” says Warren who, explaining that he has autism and a learning disability himself, has been determined to combine his love of golf with the satisfaction and achievement he experiences in coaching youngsters.
Warren’s golfing CV also includes representing GB at the Special Olympics World Games in 2019 and serving as an England Golf Young Ambassador, a role in which he assisted the Golf Foundation and England Golf to make the sport more welcoming and inclusive to young people of all abilities.
Supporting The G4D Open
Warren and his charity also assisted the Golf Foundation by leading a school group visit (St Piers School and College, Lingfield) to The G4D Open (‘G4D’ is golf for the disabled) in May at Woburn, a great opportunity for the youngsters to experience this international championship staged by The R&A in partnership with the DP World Tour, supported by EDGA.
Here, the Golf Foundation showcased its wider work in supporting youngsters with disabilities by staging an introductory ‘Unleash Your Drive in Schools’ Festival for three SEND school groups including St Piers.
While 80 world-leading golfers from 19 countries competed on the Woburn course, a chip and a putt away from the course the school children received positive learnings as part of each of the eight games they played, before having the opportunity to watch the action on the fairways and greens.
Matt Hawkes, Head of PE at St Piers School, said: “We travelled to Woburn Golf Club on the back of some fun taster sessions with Warren Clark at our school, supported by the Golf Foundation.
“Several students really shone out in front of the coaches on the day and there were lots of positive comments made about the way they could strike a ball. Golf is fast becoming part of St Piers’ PE curriculum and the fact we could visit one of the country’s top golf courses was a memorable day for us all!”
Unleash Your Drive Manager Andy Leigh said: “For the children who joined us today, each game came with a bit of extra learning about patience, taking turns; encouraging focus, instilling confidence, a range of positives. The teachers are trained to use these games in a way to benefit their youngsters and help with their mental wellbeing, and each school can use this in their own wider curriculum as they see fit to the benefit of individual pupils.”
Working with England Golf
Recently our team attended the English Open for Golfers with a Disability at Ramside Hall GC in Durham, supporting England Golf – our joint Junior Golf Strategy aims to increase the profile of golf in schools and communities, support club-based activity and develop the workforce supporting junior golf.
Regional Development Officer Ian Harvey welcomed a wide range of children with special education needs from across the north east for their first experience at a big golf tournament. This included watching 72 leading golfers with a range of impairments (physical, sensory and neurodiversity) who were teeing it up on the course. The kids also clearly relished taking part in their first School Games Festival, supported by 14 volunteers from Durham Sixth Form Centre.
All three schools: Forest Park School, Rosebrook Primary and Aycliffe School, have recently signed up for Unleash Your Drive in Schools and will each receive their free Golfway Primary Play bag, staff online training, lesson plans and impact measures in their fully funded offer from the Golf Foundation.
Ian Harvey said: “The children loved these golf games and thanks to the students from Durham Sixth Form Centre I think the kids found their way, took their time, tried again with their shots to complete the games and enjoyed good focus. I learned a lot and can feedback to my colleagues from the day.”
Ian added: “The children were really excited and made some good crowd noise when watching the golfers on the first tee. When we watched Phil Meadows (a seated golfer who plays from a powered motion device) hit his tee shot we were all really impressed with how far and straight his shot was and the reaction from the children was great fun. It was superb for all present and a great opportunity from England Golf.”
Tom Dobson, Disability Golf Manager at England Golf, added: “Through our work with the Golf Foundation and Unleash Your Drive, we have been delighted to provide this great opportunity to engage with local special educational needs children to showcase how golf is accessible and a game for all, and hope this has provided inspiration for future disabled golfers.”
‘Big’ opportunities
The Golf Foundation team was involved in ‘The Big Discussion – How can we enhance Disability Sport in the North East?’, England Golf’s networking event, the aim of which was to provide connection for local stakeholders and how they could work more collaboratively in the disability space.
Next up at events for the Golf Foundation is The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, as guests of The R&A (a key supporter of our charity) and supporting Golf Ireland, The PGA and EDGA to welcome many club
junior groups (who have been playing our GolfSixes League), community groups and hundreds of visiting families with their children to The R&A SwingZone in The Open’s Spectator Village.
The Golf Foundation team is looking forward to repeating a successful formula in support of EDGA, the international authority on G4D, who at the last two Opens has invited community groups to SwingZone, for young people with a range of disabilities. Supported by our team in the SwingZone, playing games, learning first shots, EDGA will again create a memorable experience for groups of local youngsters at the most famous golf tournament in the world. What a start in golf.