The little things we do every day add up to be the big things

This is a powerful message and one that weaves its way into everything we do at Bath Rugby Foundation.

With 18 years’ experience building confidence, developing skills, and creating pathways to independence for vulnerable children and young people in our community, we now see daily evidence that big things happen when we concentrate on doing the little things well.

A great example of this within Bath Rugby Foundation is our HITZ learning academy, where older teenagers who (for many complex reasons) have found school challenging - often leaving without any qualifications and sometimes after being excluded - grow and flourish as our team help them develop self-belief and the emotional tools to thrive.

There is no magic wand waving involved, just effort and persistence from all sides, but the incredible results soon start to come when young people are encouraged, feel they are valued and find somewhere where they belong.

Meg is a perfect example of this. In primary school Meg was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and ADHD and was bullied. She was unhappy, her confidence was low, and she joined us without any qualifications. In her own words she had no future and did not know how to create one.

During the two years Meg spent at BRF, she slowly but surely built herself back again – and now loves sport with a passion, is well on her way to university and is determined to help other young people whose futures may appear bleak.

Although Meg was originally overwhelmed by the challenge, with each day that passed the future looked a little bit brighter and now two years on she’s extremely proud of how far she has come.

The same ‘slowly but surely’ approach is used for members of our multi-sport and social programme – Hi5! Club. At this amazing club – which meets 4 times a week - children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) will also learn the life-changing benefits of being active and the incredible power of having friendship groups.

For many teenagers, who have had few or no opportunities to enjoy independence, the difference this club makes supplies our team with daily tales of triumph – whether that’s a club member feeling confident enough to catch a bus and meet their friends at a café, to play golf, attend a dance class or join one of our Mixed Ability rugby teams.

Young people have the ability within them to grow, strengthen and develop – but there is no quick fix, it requires the support and encouragement to be consistent - this is where the real magic happens and this is where we believe that we can continue to make a big difference to young people’s lives, little by little, day by day.