A young person who attends Northampton Saints Foundation has seen his confidence grow thanks to the HITZ programme.
HITZ is Premiership Rugby’s flagship employability and education programme, supporting young people to make a positive change in their lives. Delivered nationally by Premiership Rugby’s shareholder clubs, the programme uses the power of sport and the values of rugby to develop the personal, life and employability skills of young people.
Jamie*, a 16-year-old care leaver was referred to HITZ after wanting to improve his GCSEs. Anxiety and low mood impacted his learning and a diagnosis of dyslexia meant he found school challenging. With a starting score of 2.5 out of 40 on the outcome rated scale (ORS), Jamie scored one of the lowest scores seen on entry to the Foundation.
Resistant to engage, Jamie began working with Dawn, the Foundation’s Youth Therapist for regular one-to-one sessions, to initially build therapeutic rapport and establish trust. Dawn intro- duced Jamie to healthy coping strategies, such as positive self-talk, ‘detecting thinking’ and gratitude exercises helping him to articulate his worries and learn coping strategies.
Now scoring 40/40 on the ORS scale, Jamie is on track to complete the course and has completed work experience at a prestigious hotel. With the support from his tutor and Dawn, he is working towards his future and develop the skills he needs to sustain meaningful relationships.
Shirley Malin, HITZ Officer from Northampton Saints Foundation said:
“We are extremely proud of the journey Jamie has been on during his time at the Foundation. In a relatively short space of time, we have seen him grow in confidence and self-esteem. His sense of humour is now shining through allowing him to look towards a brighter future”.
Any business that would like to find out more about how it can help to sponsor a student so the Foundation can continue to help more young people like Jamie should email admin@northamptonsaintsfoundation.org or for more information or contact Northampton Saints Foundation at www.northamptonsaintsfoundation.org
