Blackburn Rovers Community Trust’s PL Kicks Inclusion programme supports young people through free SEND sessions at Our Lady and St John’s Catholic College.

The sessions are available to children aged eight to 16 years old and offer participants an opportunity to take part in football-specific activities in a small group every week.

One group member is Petra Eastwood, aged eight, who has developed her confidence from attending BRCT’s PL Kicks Inclusion programme, her dad Andy said.

“My daughter is good at sports but it’s her self-confidence and belief. If she’s had PE at school, she comes home upset sometimes after playing basketball or netball and says, ‘I can’t do it’.

“I took her to a Blackburn Rovers Community Trust session for the first time, I said we’ll just go and watch. I took her in, and the staff were so kind, pleasant and warm. They took some balls out of the bag and she just naturally got up and ran around for five minutes, allowing her, her own time and space, so it worked well.

“I’d recommend the sessions to anyone. She doesn’t want to join a football club, she’s there to learn her coordination because sometimes she struggles with her coordination skills. But on this programme, she really enjoys the small games at the end, she’ll run up and try to tackle the ball off someone.

“She really enjoys it, it’s sometimes beneficial that she gets more attention and one-to-one. There’s a good connection with the other children so she really enjoys it.”

To find out more on PL Kicks Inclusion, please contact Harriet.Waters@brfctrust.co.uk.

PL Kicks programme providing new opportunities for young people