Back to Unleash Your Drive

Welcome to Unleash Your Drive in Schools, our ambition to help change the face of mental wellbeing by getting our simple six lesson golf programme into every school in Great Britain & Ireland.

Our online training and simple step by step delivery mechanism allows you to deliver the programme yourself. Of course we’ll be here to help you along the way wherever you need!

Our initial drive is through primary schools. 

If you are a secondary school, express your interest here. If you are a primary school, keep on reading…

There are three ways to get involved;

1 – Have you got Golfway kit already?

Fill out our interest form below, complete our simple application and online training, and you are ready to go!

2 – Want to purchase the subsidised programme today?

For just £348, you can access the full Unleash Your Drive programme – including Golfway kit, online training, our printed and digital resources, and our evaluation tool. That’s a 50% discount on the full £700 programme!

The programme is a great use of the Primary PE & School sport premium grant.

Just fill out our interest form, and we’ll be in touch to help you register with a Golfway equipment account, and guide you through the process for delivering golf in your school!

3 – Want to apply for the fully funded programme?

We are delighted to be offering fully funded programmes – that’s FREE kit, training & resources worth £700 – to those who need it the most.

If your school fulfils the below criteria, simply fill out our interest and application forms to tell us more. We will assess all applications, and we will be in touch with every applicant to explain the next steps, whether you are successful or not.

We have funding to provide 400 schools with free access to the programme

Fully Funded Programme Criteria;
You will need to demonstrate:

-Commitment and plan for implementation of the programme, including the impact measurements and alignment to mental wellbeing plan within the school
-Lack of affordability and how the involvement of your school will help us improve equity and ensure we support schools most in need
-Pathways and links to local golf clubs and coaches

Mental Toughness Impact: Click Here To See An Example Of The Report We Can Create For Your School

A Bit More Background

Why Did We Get Here?

The benefits of golf to mental health and wellbeing are known by everyone who plays the game and backed by extensive research and evidence. However, in

However, in working with schools, youth clubs and golf clubs, along with many youth-centred organisations, the Golf Foundation has become increasingly concerned about the worrying decline in young people’s mental health, particularly since the Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.  This trend is reflected by the headline findings of a number of high profile reports in recent years:

  1. 1 in 6 children aged 7 to 16 years has a probable mental health disorder (NHS Digital, November 2022 – The Mental Health of Children and YP in England Survey)
  2. Suicide is the largest cause of mortality for young people under 35. Suicide rates have been increasing in recent years (Office for National Statistics, 2020)
  3. Girls are twice as likely to experience poor mental health than boys by the age of 18 (Steer Education: The Impact of the pandemic on students’ mental health)
  4. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are two to three times more likely to develop mental health problems than their peers who are more socioeconomically advantaged (Commission on Young Lives, November 2022).
  5. 96% of young people reported that their mental health had affected their schoolwork at some point.  They told us how the lack of support they received for their mental health prevented them from fully taking part in and enjoying secondary school. They described how low mood, fatigue, depression and difficulty concentrating meant they had little energy or motivation to complete schoolwork. This was strongly supported by school staff, who nearly all agreed (95%) that a lot of students or some students had their schoolwork or learning affected by mental health problems (MIND: Not making the grade).

How Did We Get Here?

Since 2017, we have been specifically interested in the strong body of evidence that supports the value of teaching mental toughness to young people through sport:

  • Mental toughness is significantly associated with academic attainment, school attendance, classroom behaviour and peer relationships in secondary school students (St Clair Thompson at al, Educational Psychology, 2015)
  • Mentally tough adolescents are associated with better physical and psychological health (Gerber et al, Stress and Health, 2013).

Working with mental toughness experts, Yeast Ltd, we devised a proven method of teaching mental toughness skills to young people using golf and measuring its impact. The initial pilot project, developed and tested over a period of 18 months with golf coaches and young golfers across clubs in the SE of England, demonstrated a 20% increase in confidence, commitment and overall mental toughness in the juniors involved. Similar findings have since been replicated with non-golfing pupils in secondary schools and with county girls squads in Lincolnshire and Essex.  At Baysgarth Secondary School in Lincolnshire, the Unleash Your Drive mental toughness programme was delivered to all 600 pupils using golf over the summer term in 2023.

Using adapted golf equipment, training for teachers and coaches, and lesson plans focused around developing 9 specific mental toughness tools, the Golf Foundation is able to deliver the life skills to all young people in any environment on or away from the golf course. This includes schools, youth clubs, faith groups and junior sections of golf clubs.

Through a range of strategic partnerships with other youth focused organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust, StreetGames and Liverpool FC Foundation, the Golf Foundation has the ability to reach millions of young people away from the traditional golf course environment.

What’s In It For Your School?

The chance to help change the mental wellbeing of your children, and the chance for them to try a different sport. Your monitoring also allows us to create bespoke case studies like this one which helps your school with Ofsted and governmental reporting, as well as producing child-specific numbers to show progress on a mental wellbeing journey.

Mental Toughness In Schools

Want to know more about mental toughness in schools?

We sat down with Dr John Perry to talk about mental toughness and golf, and how the two can work together through Unleash Your Drive to help shape the mental wellbeing of young people.

Enjoy our Q&A below:

Ts & Cs for school delivery application

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