Ospreys in the Community have won the Best Collaboration Initiative award at the inaugural WSA Sports Industry Awards ceremony at the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff on Thursday 8th June. The honour was awarded for their children’s mental health initiatives, Bouncing Back Plus and On Target, with Action for Children and Philtronics Ltd.
Tom Sloane, Foundation Manager at Ospreys in the Community, added: ‘We’re absolutely delighted to have won this award with Action for Children and Philtronics Ltd. The mental health programmes have really caught the imagination of Ospreys in the Community staff and we’ve seen first-hand the positive benefits it has for our children. In the current difficult economic conditions, that’s been absolutely critical so to receive this award means everything and made all the hard work the partnership has done so worthwhile. It was great to celebrate brilliant honour with our partners at such a prestigious event.’
Bouncing Back, Bouncing Back Plus and On Target has been delivered to almost 40 primary and secondary schools in the Ospreys region with nearly 3,000 children benefitting from the programmes. The interactive sessions, also supported by the West Glamorgan Development Partnership, combine classroom-based Cognitive and Dialectical behavioural therapy (CBT and DBT) techniques and physical exercises such as touch rugby on the playground. Mental health toolkits are issued to every pupil to ensure the positive techniques continue long after the sessions have concluded.
Caryl Dyer coordinated the programmes for Action for Children and added: ‘I am so proud of this achievement. We have worked so well with Ospreys in the Community and Philtronics with great results for our children so to be recognised in this way is fantastic. We celebrated in style and I’m so grateful to our partners for making this work as well as the children for embracing our sessions so enthusiastically. This initiative is going from strength to strength and long may it continue.’
Anne Pritchard, Finance Director for Philtronics Ltd added: ‘This award is proof that great things can be achieved when passionate people work together for a very worthy cause. We would like to thank everyone for supporting our fundraising efforts since the beginning of our partnership. Big shout out to all the Action for Children and Ospreys in the Community staff who deliver amazing Health & Wellbeing programmes across the region!’
