Awards & Grants

The Jason Roberts Foundation are excited to announce the launch of their new ‘Inclusive Communities’ project – a sport for all programme for children with physical and learning disabilities (SEND) thanks to funding from Brent Council You Decide Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL).

The project which will be delivered by trained coaches and staff at weekends and during school holidays will offer a range of sports, activities, and games at Bridgestone Arena, NW10 8PL a fully inclusive and accessible sports and community centre which offers suitable facilities, games, and equipment, helping to break down barriers to participation for these children.

The Inclusive Communities Project received overwhelming support from the local community when they were asked to vote for their favourite projects under Brent Council’s new You Decide community grants programme initiative.

Working with local SEND schools the Foundation plan to offer some mid-term sports provision to support PE lessons and will host 3 Sports Days during the summer, bringing children together from different schools.

The half term and summer holiday sessions will be integrated alongside mainstream delivery and incorporate a Buddy System, creating an ethos where everyone can take part equally, helping the children to feel less marginalised and excluded.

There will be mentors on hand to instil confidence and self-belief in the children to take part in and try new sports, helping them to overcome barriers, as well as helping them to ‘find their voice’ through media workshops via our Cultural Media Centre. For young people aged 14+ there are plans to support them on progression pathways to Apprenticeships, training, and work experience to enhance life skills and opportunities.

Parents, Carers, and family members are welcome to accompany their children to the Sunday sessions and the Foundation will support them to form a Parents Active Group to offer respite, create a support network, meet socially, share ideas and information.

Otis Roberts, CEO of the Foundation said, “We are delighted to receive funding from Brent Council, and You Decide NCIL to deliver our ‘Inclusive Communities’ programme. We know that sports participation for children with SEND is significantly lower that the overall population and this project will bridge that gap and maximise sports participation for these children.”

Cllr Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Equalities and Culture said: “It’s wonderful to see projects like this, funded by regeneration in the borough, come to life. I have no doubt that the programme will make a positive difference for  local children.”

The Sunday afternoon sessions will run from 12:00 – 2:00 pm. For more information and to register your child please contact info@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

About NCIL

The NCIL Fund provides grants for community projects that support the regeneration of the borough. At least 15 per cent of all the money Brent Council collect from new, eligible, developments in the borough must be spent on priorities that are agreed in consultation with the local community.

Brent is divided into five ‘CIL Neighbourhoods’, Harlesden, Kilburn and Kensal, Kingsbury and Kenton, Wembley, and Willesden.  Grants can be used for Physical improvements anything from painting and refurbishing a community centre, updating play areas or installing public water fountains, or Social infrastructure projects such as educational courses (an after-school homework club), support schemes (to support residents with the costs of living) or projects that bring the community together (a coffee morning promoting health opportunities).

In the 2022-2023 Grants round Brent Council launched the You Decide initiative where shortlisted applications from registered organisations eligible to apply, were put to the public vote.

https://www.brent.gov.uk/ncil

The young people of Brent continue to enjoy urban Golf and a sports and social Youth Zone club delivered by JRF thanks to funding from Track Academy’s Back to Movement in partnership with Sport England.

Track Academy launched an exciting new initiative called Back to Movement, aimed at helping the diverse community of Brent recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Created in partnership with Sport England, Back to Movement has been designed to increase the activity levels of residents of all ages through free sessions held across the borough. It will also provide opportunities for people to reconnect with each other and build hope for the future. For more information visit https://trackacademy.co.uk/back-to-movement/

JRF came up with two initiatives to appeal to the young people of Brent, helping them to reconnect with their peers and recover from the impact that Covid-19 restrictions may have had on them.

The JRF Golf project was developed as it is a social sport which helps boost self-esteem, social skills, and overall mental wellbeing. However, it is traditionally known as an elite sport.

Through Back to Movement, the Foundation can break down barriers for many to access the sport and positively impact the community.

By offering free golf sessions twice a week, training local coaches and creating pathways for participants to progress to nearby golf clubs, the sport is being made more accessible.

Through the Youth Zone project, the Foundation has created a safe haven where social interaction and inclusion can thrive, young people can feel connected to the community, and where they can improve their physical and mental fitness.

The programme offers a range of activities all year round such as dance, football, cricket, table tennis, basketball and many more.

Follow the Jason Roberts Foundation on Twitter #JasonRobertsFdn

The Jason Roberts Foundation (JRF) is awarded a £53,600 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to implement the Inspire to Achieve Heritage Programme: Uncovering the Histories of the Footballers who Paved the Way.

JRF has received support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Inspire to Achieve project, it was announced today. Thanks to National Lottery players, the project aims to celebrate the untold stories of a dozen former footballers, each of whom grew up within sight of Wembley Stadium, and whose stories will inspire the Brent community through a range of outputs and activities.

Some of the footballers who have pledged their support of this project include Paul Merson, Dave Beasant, Rachel Yankey, Richard Langley, the Stein brothers – Mark, Edwin, and Brian, Jason Roberts, Luther Blissett, Phillip ifil, Dave Regis, Gary Waddock, Darren Currie, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jerome Thomas, Junior Lewis, and Eartha Pond. The family of the late Cyrille Regis have also confirmed their support of the project which honours the great legacy he left.

The programme is primarily designed to create opportunities for disadvantaged young people to develop new skills through co-curation and to inspire the local community to engage with cultural heritage through relatable themes.

JRF is committed to work with the University Campus of Football Business (UCFB), local mainstream and SEND schools, other youth driven organisations, and the local housing association to provide new opportunities for young people to not only learn about inspirational characters and the history of their environment, but also learn new skills related to researching, recording, and presenting narratives through a range of mixed media.

While inspiring young people through the active collection, preservation and sharing of heritage, and the motivational stories of the footballers, the health and wellbeing activities will be aimed at the older generation by establishing a sporting memories cafe.

Commenting on the award, Otis Roberts, CEO of JRF said: “We’re delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players. Throughout the programme and beyond, we will be promoting the centre (Bridgestone Arena) as a place of sporting and cultural activity for visitors to the area, and due to our proximity to Wembley Stadium, we will be able to attract a wide cross section of visitors from the UK and abroad each time this venue is used to host a range of prominent and popular events. We are looking forward to getting the project underway”

Notes to editors

About Jason Roberts Foundation

JRF is a sport for development charity. We deliver a programme of wrap-around support including mentoring, life skills, education, and training, within our multi-sports activities that provide opportunities to young people, including those at risk, and promote exercise and team games for children and young people, including those with physical and learning disabilities.

There is also a focus on health and wellbeing family interventions, and intergenerational community projects and events. Activities are delivered throughout the week, and we collaborate with local voluntary, public, and private sector organisations, clubs, and funding bodies to achieve our objective of community first.

Follow @JasonRobertsFdn on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we Inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk.

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund

Since The National Lottery began in 1994, National Lottery players have raised over £43 billion for projects and more than 635,000 grants have been awarded across the UK.

Further information

For further information, images and interviews please contact Otis Roberts at Jason Roberts Foundation on 07904318965 or otis@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

The Jason Roberts Foundation has been awarded a grant by Brent Council to support their Reaching Communities Project, as part of the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL).

Reaching Communities is an intergenerational project that supports the whole community by encompassing Youth Engagement, Community Cohesion, Health and Wellbeing – increasing intergenerational engagement in arts, sport, wellbeing, technology, and media activities, while celebrating the culture and heritage of the local community.

Otis Roberts, CEO of the Foundation said, “Our Reaching Communities project resonates with JRF’s ethos of Community First. We want to see more people accessing the facilities and activities on offer through our Community hub at Bridgestone Arena. Thanks to this grant from Brent Council as part of the NCIL fund, we hope to see increased numbers of residents feeling fitter, healthier, and more connected to their community.”

The council collects money from new eligible developments in the Borough through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). CIL is a charge used to help local authorities to deliver the infrastructure needed to support development.

Up to 15 % (or up to 25% where there is a neighbourhood plan in place) of the CIL money collected is available to fund infrastructure, which, among other criteria, is aligned with priorities expressed by local communities, called Neighbourhood Priorities. This proportion of the CIL money is the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) and is applied for by residents and organisations who would like to see more localised, community led, projects being delivered.

Kate Lambert, Grants Manager at Brent Council said; “It is great to see projects like the JRF Reaching Communities Project being delivered by local organisations, supporting, and empowering our communities in Brent. NCIL ‘s purpose is to build infrastructure supporting local development and it will be great to see how this project does exactly that. Look forward to seeing the difference JRF makes to their local community!”

For more information visit the NCIL webpage. https://www.brent.gov.uk/your-community/community-and-voluntary-sector-support/neighbourhood-community-infrastructure-levy-ncil-fund/

To find out more about Reaching Communities follow JRF @jasonrobertsfdn on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Funding from the Government’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, has enabled the Jason Roberts Foundation to launch their Stonebridge Restart project.

As one of the hardest hit boroughs in the country in the first wave of the pandemic, the community centred project delivered from Bridgestone Arena in the heart of the Stonebridge Estate, the ‘home’ of JRF since the charity’s launch in 2007, will address some of the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.

Stonebridge Restart aims to rebuild social networks by bringing the local community together, and in partnership with other statutory and voluntary organisations, provide services to support their physical and emotional health and wellbeing, helping people to become stronger and more resilient.

Jo Tongue, a Trustee of JRF said, “We’ve seen the negative impact the COVID-19 crisis has had on our community, and we want to support them to overcome some of the challenges they have, and continue to, face. Thanks to the Government, this grant will help Stonebridge residents restart sport, fitness, social networks, and support them with training, and employment.”

The Coronavirus Community Support Fund makes available £200m in Government funding that will be aimed primarily at small to medium organisations in England. The Fund has two key objectives:

To increase community support to vulnerable people affected by the COVID-19 crisis, through the work of civil society organisations.

To reduce temporary closures of essential charities and social enterprises, ensuring services for vulnerable people impacted by COVID-19 have the financial resources to operate, and so reduce the burden on public services.

The Jason Roberts Foundation (JRF) has been awarded a grant of £5000 from the London Community Response Fund, administered by City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, towards the costs of providing on-line services for young people and their families during the Covid-19 crisis.

Roberts played for Bristol Rovers, West Brom, Wigan and Blackburn among others. He was capped 12 times by Grenada and is now director of development at Concacaf.

In response to the current crisis the Foundation explored new and safe ways to reach and engage with the children and young people they usually support through the programmes they deliver, and to provide them with useful information and content that was educational and might create opportunities.

Learning disabilities

One of these ideas was a podcast series entitled You Are Not Alone for children and young people with physical and learning disabilities, to support families during lockdown who were suddenly having to do what the schools and support services had done, with no respite. The podcast gave them the platform to talk to the teachers and organisations who were happy to share intervention strategies and point to physical resources.

Otis Roberts, CEO of JRF said: “We knew we had to find new ways to engage with and support our young participants (during lockdown), to let them know they are not alone, to give them a platform and a voice, and importantly, a means for them to reach us.

“We were delighted to be awarded this grant to enable us to develop our digital services and support more people.”

London’s funders are working together to provide coordinated funding to support groups responding to the needs of communities in the capital affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over £22m in funding has been distributed through the London Community Response (LCR) to support the capital’s civil society organisations since opening for applications four days after lockdown started.

The LCR is an unprecedented funder collaboration – over 60 funders have come together from across sectors, recognising that it was vital to distribute grants quickly based on shared intelligence and processes.

Supported

Stewart Goshawk, Chief Executive Officer of Wembley National Stadium Trust “WNST is pleased to have supported the work of the Jason Roberts Foundation for a number of years now.

“Recently, the Trust has been able to make a small number of grants as part of the London Community Response Fund, including one to JRF, which is helping it to run on-line sessions supporting local people through coronavirus crisis.

“We know how valuable this work will be for residents living in difficult circumstances, looking for help and guidance in these challenging times. We wish JRF every success with this important initiative.”

The Jason Roberts Foundation in Brent has been awarded £4836 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund towards retaining freelance staff and core operational costs during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbreak of the virus and the consequent shutdown of businesses as of March 23 has left the sport and physical activity sector facing a period of uncertainty.

In response, on March 31 Sport England announced a £195m package to help the sport and physical activity sector through covid-19. Within the package is a £20m Community Emergency Fund, of National Lottery money to deliver immediate funding to those who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus.

The grant will allow the Jason Roberts Foundation to maintain some freelance staff who are involved in initiatives to enable them to stay in touch with their participants during the current closure period via Podcasts and Vodcasts.  The grant will also cover some core operational costs including phones, utilities, insurance for the coming months.

Otis Roberts, Jason Roberts Foundation’s Chief Executive, said:

 “This grant from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund has been a vital lifeline during this crisis which has enabled us to proactively find new ways to reach out and safely engage with our beneficiaries and their families. Without securing this funding we would not have been able to retain our core freelance staff to continue virtual engagement and to secure future funding for when we are able to resume our operations.”

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said: 

“As the body responsible for the growth of sport and physical activity participation, we want the vital grassroots organisations that make sport and physical activity happen in this country to not just to come through this crisis but to be in a position to thrive again in the future. The £20m Community Emergency fund, made possible by National Lottery players is part of a multimillion pound package of support we are providing to ease the pressure on a huge number of the organisations who are central to the nation’s health and wellbeing.

“We are proud to be able to provide vital funding to the Jason Roberts Foundation to help it through these extremely challenging times.”

Jason has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the provision of sporting events for disabled children in both Grenada and the UK.

The award is also in recognition of the partnership between the Jason Roberts Foundation, WINDREF and St. George’s University, which has involved many of their students in the philanthropic activities. The Honorary Degree will be presented to Jason at the School of Graduate Studies/School of Arts and Sciences Commencement Ceremony, where Jason will be the Commencement Speaker.

The Jason Roberts Foundation was formed in 2007, and in 2008 the Foundation expanded their work from not only providing able bodies with sports sessions, but also delivering sports sessions for people with disabilities. The disability programme extended to Grenada in 2010, and the Foundation started to partner with St. George’s University.

The aim of this partnership is to provide skill-sharing, support and long-term assistance to the teachers, staff and students of the three Special Educational Needs schools in Grenada that the Foundation has worked with over the last five years. Since 2012, they have in partnership hosted eight ‘Festival of Sports’ Days for children aged from 5-18 with a range of disabilities including; autism, Cerebral palsy, Downs Syndrome and other complex needs.

Jason Roberts MBE, Founder and Trustee of the Jason Roberts Foundation, said:

“I am extremely honoured to receive this Honorary Doctor on behalf of the work my Foundation has done in Grenada and the UK. Sport has a unique ability to transcend cultural and ethnic backgrounds, to motivate and to inspire.

“It gives me such pride to accept this award on behalf of all of the individuals and supporters who have given their time, resources and efforts to make other people’s lives a little bit better and I humbly accept this honourable doctorate in debt to them and my family who have supported me so much during this journey.”

Chancellor Charles R. Modica, said:

“This degree is being awarded to Mr. Jason Robert by the University in recognition of his outstanding contributions in empowering young people through sports”

Kevin Moulton, Jason Roberts Foundation’s Ambassador, Grenada, said;

“Through my almost 2 years in Grenada I have worked directly and indirectly with the organization to provide a structured Physical education structure for special needs children and several schools in Grenada.

“The work and structure that the Jason Roberts Foundation provides for the children truly took me by surprise when I first started volunteering. I was introduced to the organization when they came to Grenada and I was volunteering at the School for Special Needs in St Georges, Grenada.

“After my first experience I stayed in contact with the organization and every time that Jason and Otis came to Grenada I was eager to help out. Through personal hands on education with children and overall structure of programs, paired with the Ambassador program, the foundation provides an amazing experience for the children, volunteers and instructors alike.

“The personal education that the experience has provided for me as well as the children that this foundation impacts directly is immense. My experience through the organization will last with me forever and has provided myself with lifelong friends and a lifelong ally of the organization.”

Disabled people are known as ‘the world’s largest minority’. And it’s not by chance, the cost of living with a disability can increase household poverty, which means disability is not an issue limited to individuals. Exclusion and stigma, low incomes, and high costs of rehabilitation and care, all create a vicious circle that holds back not only individuals with impairments, but their families and children too.

There are several barriers that prevent disadvantaged young people from accessing positive sport related activities; these can range from lack of accessibility, lack of resources, discrimination and stigmatisation, a limit for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

By integrating inclusive sports sessions within our mainstream delivery, we aim to break down some of the barriers and ensure that all young people get the opportunity to participate.