UK Civil Society Sport Cup - Civil Society - a Fair Play Actor of European Union

Short description of the events

Promoted sports  
Our project planning team commenced a project mapping and delivery strategy process which  involved a weekly active Tennis (Table) playing and coaching sessions of 2hours minimum every Sunday due to the grassroots nature of the sports chosen by our organization in collaboration with the youths, girls, young women, older adults within the Gorton community, Manchester UK.

Activities


The activities included Tennis weekly coaching activities, Tennis Competitions and Tournament.

Project team engaged young people and adults on one on Tennis skills assessment during ‘’Civil Society Tournament’’ V2020 Sports Day, accessing their state of wellness and healthy living signposting them to relevant quarters for additional support.
The project encouraged participants to engage in productive, positive and accessible Table Tennis activities leading to improvement physically, emotionally and boost in self-confidence and esteem by having a go at Tennis playing which hitherto they do not have access to.

Number and profile of participants

More than 50 people of varied status and profile graced the event, including The Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Carl Austin-Behan, local councilors, representatives of civil societies, directors of community groups, charity organizations, and people with fewer opportunities, young people, girls, young women, older men and women, representatives of local tennis clubs, coaches, mentors and members of the local community.
V2020 worked with young people, girls, young women, older adults, people with fewer opportunities within the local community, mentored and coached them through numerous social sport activities preparatory to ‘’Civil Society Tournament’’ V2020 Sports Day

45% of participants on ‘‘’Civil Society Tournament’’ V2020 Sports Day are disadvantaged and with fewer opportunities, the project specifically targets the low income people who could not afford this type of opportunities except if provided by V2020.

‘’Civil Society Tournament’’ V2020 Sports Day gave the people within and outside the local community something to do and create experiences to carry into future and other spheres of endeavours.
About 25% reduction in avoidable health challenges among participants, such as obesity, stress and unhealthy living is projected as they continued to exercise after the  ‘’Civil Society Tournament’’ involving constant playing of Table Tennis for more than 2-4 hours weekly.

Guests and Partners

Dignitaries in attendance are:
Cllr. Carl Austin-Behan,
Lord Mayor of Manchester
Cllr Bernard Stone,
Councilor Gorton South Manchester
Cllr Peter Cookson,
Councilor Gorton South Manchester
Cllr Julie Reid,
Councilor Gorton South Manchester
Dr. Moses Yaor,
NCC Manchester
Dr. Mrs. Esther Oludipe,
Director Highway Hope
Dr. Joseph Osagie – Pastor,
Grace Community Church, Manchester
Ayodeji Olofintila – Chair,
Vision 2020 Leadership Initiative

Conclusions:

In summary, participants’ participated effectively on all programme activities, involving Tennis weekly coaching activities, Tennis Competitions and Tournament.
Online mediums created before the programme delivery were sustained after the programme; mediums such as skype, e mails and Facebook page created purposefully for the project continued well after the project for information dissemination, sharing of files and documents related to the programme.
These mediums were also used to encourage participants to reflect on their learning process and also evaluate their ongoing knowledge on Erasmus+ programme actions.
A handful of the participants have formed alliances and partnered to apply for new projects involving representative of our partner countries and organizations on other programmes.
Finally by repeating the project process throughout project lifetime and cycle, it helped improved project efficiency thereby ensuring that the project process is refined and improved.