Carnforth school kids driven to improve mental health through golf

Primary school children from Carnforth are turning to golf to improve their performance in the classroom and their mental health and wellbeing.

Pupils from Arkholme Primary School are part of the Unleash Your Drive programme led by national charity, The Golf Foundation, and welcomed the charity to their school for a special session to mark Children’s Mental Health Week.

The programme, which was launched last year by the charity’s president and Sky Sports presenter Nick Dougherty, aims to give children from a wide variety of backgrounds the opportunity to play golf through the delivery of a six-week course which combines golf games and activities with the teaching of nine key mental toughness tools to help build resilience for pupils through their childhood and later years.

It was developed in response to evidence highlighting increasing levels of poor mental health amongst children with recent NHS data showing that 18% of young people experience a probable mental health issue with children from disadvantaged backgrounds three times more likely to experience mental health problems.

Over 500 schools have applied to take part in the programme, and Arkholme are one of 100 schools across the country to deliver the sessions in its first year. The Golf Foundation, who provide equipment (through Golfway) and learning resources for teachers to help schools deliver the programme across the country will be opening the next wave of Unleash Your Drive applications for schools soon.

Andy Leigh, Head of the Unleash Your Drive programme, who led the session at the school, said:“We believe that all children should have access to golf regardless of their background – it’s great for their mental health and wellbeing. Unleash Your Drive is a programme to introduce children to golf and it also provides a platform for life skills which will help them at school and beyond school as well. We want to take this into more schools across the region and the country.”

Emma Muckalt, PE lead at Arkholme School, added:“The children absolutely loved the session and having Andy here to work with them was brilliant. They’ve learned so much since they started the Unleash Your Drive sessions and really taken everything on board. It has helped with their learning across the curriculum and not just in golf which is great. I’d recommend it to other schools – it’s really easy to follow.

To find out more about the Unleash Your Drive Programme and help to raise vital funds to help the mental wellbeing of young people, visit www.golf-foundation.org/uyd