Under the banner of the Game On programme, the HITZ (Premiership Rugby) and TRY HARD (Rugby Football League) projects will be rolled out across 23 UK-based professional clubs in the Premiership and Super League respectively. Soon Wooden Spoon also hopes to be able to announce the first Game On projects working with the 10 Pro12 (Celtic League) clubs in the British Isles.

How do we do this?

Engage:	Elite rugby clubs and local education partners will work together to encourage young people to participate
Educate:	A government-backed educational curriculum (26 weeks per participant) targeting young people aged 16- 19 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) will be delivered in conjunction with rugby training and playing sessions
Exit:	Participants will be helped into specific full-time education, apprenticeships, paid employment and long-term volunteer work
Evaluate:	Progress from behaviour change to targeted outcomes will be monitored to evaluate investment return for sponsors and Government
Endure:	All projects will incorporate a sustainability plan to facilitate their funding and continuity beyond the initial three-year investment

Game On projects have been developed with YMCA Training (education), Prof. Rosie Meek (BA, MRes, PGCHE, PhD, FRSA) (monitoring and evaluation), the leading professional rugby bodies (youth engagement and sporting delivery). These programmes meet the Game On standard model- the 5E's:

How much do the projects cost?

For each NEET young person taking part, Wooden Spoon needs to source £1.5k of private funding which will in turn allow us to leverage a further £4.8k of public funding (educational piece). For each project our aim is to move 120 young people back into education or employment over 3 years. Total private funding required is £180k which draws a further £576k of public/ government funding.

What is the impact of projects?

The latest UK unemployment figures show that the number of young people looking for work is well over 1 million. Each young person in long-term unemployment costs the state more than £100,000, rising to £300,000 for those that fall into crime- Game On programmes provide a significant cost saving to society for every successful participant on Game On projects.

An example of our work:

Two years ago Charlie Henry was stuck in a rut, but now he is a fully qualified plumber. Without the Onside project, funded by Wooden Spoon and delivered by Gloucester RFC, the 20 year old admits the turn round would not have been possible. "I didn't know what I wanted to do with myself and I was not very confident. I wasn't really going anywhere at the time to be honest but the Onside project changed all that. After Onside I offered to work for free to show them that I was committed and that I was worth being offered a place on the apprenticeship. I never did work for free but I think they liked my attitude. Now I've completed my NVQ Level 2 at Stroud College and am working for the company as a plumber."

For more information on how to get involved with Game On standard projects please contact Jai Purewal, Development Director for Spoon Community Projects by email at jpurewal@woodenspoon.com or phone 07738 999619