As LSBU students took a break from their academic studies, LSBU Active delivered 5 fantastic weeks of a summer sports camp (a total of 23 days) in collaboration with Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST). The purpose of the camp is to deliver a vibrant community sports offer for children aged between 5-12 in the local community.

Across July and August, 13 of LSBU’s Sports Ambassadors’ successfully delivered an engaging multisport camp. This provided children from the local community the opportunity to learn a variety of new sports including football, dodgeball, basketball and more in a safe, controlled and fun environment. It also provided our scheme with over 550 hours of paid work for students. In addition, our ‘Sports Ambassadors’ successfully developed leadership, coaching and team working skills.

Walking away from a busy 5 weeks, our partners at BOST were full of praise about the success of the summer sports camp and the positive impact that LSBU Sports Ambassadors had on the local children who attended. In a letter of thanks written by our community partners, it states: “The Ambassadors played an important role in creating a safe and welcoming environment for children. Their energy and encouragement helped participants build confidence, try new activities and enjoy their time at camp”. Krystian Kowalski, (Sports Manager at Bankside Open Spaces Trust)

Finally, one of our ‘Sports Ambassadors’ who stepped up as a first-time camp lead, backs this up further in her own reflections on the skills she gained from running camp. Pamela has said: “As a camp lead, there were challenging moments as we had to adapt quickly to uncertain situations, but it all concluded favourably. Seeing the kids engage in sessions throughout the 5 weeks of camp, improving their skills and the synergy between the coaches has been the highlight of camp for me.” Pamela Carreno 3rd Year, BSc Hons Sport and Exercise Science. This shows just some of the valuable skills our students who participated are now walking away with.

At LSBU Active, we are very pleased with how this summer camp has run and are excited to see about what our future partnership with BOST will bring.