Swansea children’s charity team up with Traitors star and Ospreys players for kids mental health sessions

The rugby and Traitors stars helped Ospreys in the Community celebrate their Bouncing Back Plus partnership with Action for Children with a huge event at the Swansea.com Stadium in Swansea. 

Over 550 primary school children joined the celebrations and were treated to rugby sessions, physical exercise and games as well as mental health workshops. 

Volunteers from Action for Children, EE, Ospreys in the Community, Wales Hockey and students from Gower College all gave up their time to deliver a memorable day for the children with Traitors star, Andrew Jenkins, giving talks on improving mental health. 

Ospreys stars Luke Scully, Connor Moyse and Rhys Henry were also on hand to take part in interviews with the children in the stadium press room.

The charity teamed up with the rugby region’s community arm, supported by the West Glamorgan Regional Partnership, 4 years ago to deliver a combination of classroom-based Cognitive and Dialectical behavioural therapy (CBT and DBT) techniques and physical exercises such as touch rugby on the playground.

Bouncing Back Plus started in September 2021 and the partnership has delivered the programme in 73 schools to 3575 across the Ospreys region.  Of those who took part, 97% indicated an increase in their level of confidence following the programme, 97% indicated an increase in their ability to cope in stressful situations while 97% now know who to ask for help as a result of Bouncing Back Plus.

Omowunmi and Praise from Sea View Community Primary School in Swansea have taken the Bouncing Back Plus programme in the last year and were at the celebration. 

Omowunmi said: ‘It’s been really helpful because I can help other people and myself when I feel a bit stressed or panicked.  The best thing was the finger breathing, hot chocolate breathing and the Mexican wave, they were all really fun.  I would like to see other children do this a lot, as it really helped me.’ 

Praise added: “In my everyday life, I use Bouncing Back most of the time because sometimes I feel like I’m not good at things and I get annoyed or angry so the hot chocolate breathing calms me down.  We also learned about endorphins, so it’s really helped me in the way I think about the things I do.  I really want other children to join in as it’s really helped me, and it will help other children too.”

Christina Williams manages the Bouncing Back Plus programme for Action for Children in the region and said: “We are exceptionally proud of our Bouncing Back Plus partnership with Ospreys in the Community and it’s been brilliant celebrating with over 550 children who’ve benefitted from the programme.  We’ve been running Bouncing Back Plus for nearly four years and the results here have been amazing.  The importance of early intervention on the mental health of young people cannot be overstated so getting everyone together for a day of fun activities has been wonderful.

“The children have been able to interview professional rugby players, Luke Scully, Connor Moyse and Rhys Henry, asking them questions in the press room about the impact physical activity has on their mental health and the struggles and pressures they face alongside doing what they love. Additionally, the young people had a Q&A session with Andrew Jenkins from the BBC hit show, The Traitors. They discussed emotional resilience and the pressures of being a celebrity. Giving the children these opportunities to explore the stadium whilst looking after their emotional wellbeing is invaluable.”

Tom Sloane, Head of Community at Ospreys in the Community, said: “To see over 550 children having a great day out at our stadium was fantastic.  We know the positive benefits Bouncing Back Plus has on our children and with all the challenges social media brings as well as the current challenging economic conditions, that’s been absolutely critical.  They’ll have had an experience like no other, seeing behind the scenes, the changing rooms and having so much fun with all the staff from Ospreys in the Community, EE, Action for Children, Wales Hockey and Gower College that I hope it inspires them for years to come.”

(Lead image: Action for Children)