The Network Group Exhibition, Gala & Awards is a place for Members, Partners, and the wider Channel community to get together to learn, share, and celebrate the successes of the past year.
We are delighted to announce School of Hard Knocks (SOHK) are joining us as our charity partner at our annual Exhibition, Gala & Awards at Twickenham Stadium on 13th October 2022.
Network Group Managing Director, David Tulip said:
“Our community take pride in working with deserving charity partners and it is no different this year as we gather at the home of English rugby and pertinently work with an organisation that has used sport to reach those in education and life who may have been traditionally “harder to reach”; by bringing sport, mentoring and a sense of personal pride, SOHK are able to help individuals across the UK raise their vision and journey towards their personal potential.”
Ken Cowen, School of Hard Knocks Founder & CEO said:
“We are thrilled to be Network Group’s chosen charity for this event. Partnerships like this are a vital support for our programme delivery. Throughout our 10t nniversary year we are raising funds for a team of psychotherapists for SOHK for Schools in all three of our delivery regions, enhancing our provision and enabling us to further meet the needs of our most vulnerable students. We appreciate your support, both at the event and beyond, so please come and chat to us about how you can be involved in helping us continue in our mission to empower everyone we work with to fully realise their potential.”
About School of Hard Knocks
School of Hard Knocks uses a unique combination of physical activity and psychology to help both children and adults who have not been given the advantages others have, to reach their potential.
Their programmes, intensively with adults over eight weeks, and in secondary schools over the course of three academic years, use contact sports (mostly rugby) together with teaching, coaching and mentoring in their 5Cs (Confidence, Communication, Commitment, Cohesion and Control) to enable participants to define their own steps to success and work out how to realise their potential.
Their 5Cs, designed by expert psychologists, are designed to create internal change to enable positive external behaviours. They use sport as a vehicle for this, but the impacts go far beyond the rugby pitch, boxing ring, classroom, or workplace. They give participants:
- Confidence – to believe in themselves and their potential to succeed
- Communication – the ability to accurately share ideas, feeling and information with others, verbally and non-verbally
- Commitment – consistent effort and dedication to making a positive change and achieving goals
- Control – the ability to express themselves constructively and appropriately even in confrontational situations
- Cohesion – teamwork, the unique bond between people working together towards a shared goal
SOHK are currently working with over 1200 children per week across England, Scotland and Wales, alongside adult programmes running in each of these regions too. April 2022 marked the start of their 10 anniversary year, during which they are fundraising for a team of psychotherapists to work alongside their SOHK for Schools teams, supporting their most vulnerable students in each of their delivery areas.