1 Year in... Our achievements thanks to the The National Lottery Community Fund

Back in April 2021, The National Lottery Community Fund (TNL Community Fund) gave DFY the platform on which to lift off.

With their £10,000 grant, we were able to hire a full time staff member and build a project that now provides coaching for 800 children. As we approach the anniversary of this , DFY wants to offer its gratitude to the TNL Community Fund, and celebrate everything we have achieved thus far. 

After a successful pilot in 2019, and subsequent pandemic delays, DFY was eager to expand its mission and counteract the damage done by lockdowns on children’s physical and mental health. Hence, when we found support in the TNL Community Fund, we were determined to make the most of it. 

We threw ourselves into fundraising, managing to raise an additional £15,000 by auctioning off a kit bag full of rugby kit across all premiership rugby clubs or a 1:1 weightlifting sessions with DFY ambassador, British and Commonwealth Champion, Zoe Smith and provide

Offering more than just her expertise, Zoe is an embodiment of our mission. Her story is one of struggle, of learning and re-learning to be resilient in the face of challenges. She carries with her the strength that we hope to impart to a younger generation of disadvantaged children not unlike herself. 

The fundraising, combined with the TNL community funding, created a total of £25,000, which constituted all our initial set-up costs. On this foundation, we were able to achieve charity status and launch our first after-school program at ARK Franklin Primary in Summer 2021.

This huge development was made even more impactful through the efforts of another DFY ambassador, England international and Leicester Tigers fly-half, Freddie Burns.

Freddie’s involvement in after-school classes at ARK Franklin allowed us to demonstrate the effectiveness of our vision to the whole community. Like Zoe, Freddie’s journey is one of many peaks and many valleys; his ability to inspire and connect with children who also came from disadvantage, was tangible proof of the power of positive role models. 

The 2021 after-school programmes were so positively received by the children, parents and school that DFY quickly grew providing PE classes and 27 after-school clubs weekly to two primary school. We were able to deliver a diverse range of sports including football, taekwondo, dance, ballet, basketball, netball, gymnastics, cricket, tennis, multi-sports, and many more. This programme was self-sufficient, generating £92,000 in revenues which were invested in making all our services free to those who could not afford it.

The multitude of sports we were able to offer, made sure there was an activity for every interest and every skill-set. Alongside enjoyment, each of these sports hold the potential to instil positive values. Whether it is the discipline encouraged by ballet, or the teamwork central to football, DFY utilises sport as a conduit to impart important life skills that will help put children on the path to success and self-discovery.  

In short, thanks to the TNL community fund and our fundraising efforts, DFY has created a self-sustaining legacy project – one that we hope will serve hundreds more children in the years to come, contributing to a perpetual cycle of positive action. 

DFY can only offer a huge thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund and our generous donors for lighting the fire beneath our project. Not a penny, or a second has been wasted in delivering on our promise: to provide children from all backgrounds with the tools to reach their full potential and become unstoppable.