Unleash Your Drive in Schools has had a huge impact since we launched in September 2023 – none more so than reaching the very top of the country’s decision makers in Parliament.
After the launch of Play In May, a fundraising initiative to support UYD in Schools, we were delighted to see our supporter Craig Tracey MP raise the initative in the House of Commons, and seek an audience to propel our support to new heights.
Pleased to highlight the fantastic work being done by @NickDougherty5 & @golffoundation in improving young peoples mental resilience through sport.
— Craig Tracey (@craig4nwarks) April 29, 2024
Over 500 schools worked with since September last year. 🙌🙌 Will be meeting Minister to work out how we can make it even more! pic.twitter.com/zay4RhOtue
While that meeting has been temporarily put on hold due to the upcoming election, that wasn’t the only Parliamentary mention this month. As our success was also raised in the House of Lords.
During a debate on the impact of sport on young people’s health and wellbeing, Baroness Nye brought golf up alongside cricket and other sports as a way to reach new audiences and make an impact.
“One example of the power of non-traditional school sport is the initiative recently launched here in Westminster by Nick Dougherty in his role as president of the Golf Foundation. This is a charity which introduces golf to children from all backgrounds and works in schools and youth clubs as well as golf clubs. Through its work, the foundation became increasingly aware of the decline in young people’s mental health since the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. To help combat this, the foundation launched an initiative called Unleash Your Drive, which seeks to promote mental well-being in schools with mental toughness tools embedded across six weeks of fun golf games. The programme can be taught by any teacher and in any school hall or playground and has already been rolled out in 500 schools. Children can achieve success straightaway, and the games can be adapted to all abilities. There is also a potential link up with the local golf club and community.
The programme works because golf is an ideal sport to set personal best scores, develop persistence and discover strategies for how to improve and track progress, which are all crucial transferable skills that can be used inside the classroom but also outside the school environment. The programme will cost an estimated £15 million to roll out across all 32,000 primary and secondary schools. I know that the Schools Minister has agreed to meet the Golf Foundation to discuss the scheme, and I hope that the noble Lord the Minister will also support the calls for government funding.
The R&A supports the work of the Golf Foundation, but it also runs programmes of its own to promote the health benefits of playing golf. Eighteen holes is the equivalent of walking four to five miles—significantly more than the 10,000 daily steps recommended—and if that is not enough, research from the Swedish Golf Federation has shown that golfers live five years longer than non-golfers.
The benefits to the economy can also be calculated. Research by Sheffield Hallam University, supported by the R&A, in 2023 showed that the gross value added of the golf industry was £2.6 billion and that it brought £338 million to the UK economy in inward golf tourism, with consumer spending on golf being nearly £5 billion, and the industry employs nearly 64,000 people.”
You can read the full transcript of the debate here.
