In the first of a number of upcoming player visits to local hospitals and hospices, James Gibbons, George Hoddle and Josh Stokes visited pupils from Pilgrim Pathways School on Monday across sites at Addenbrooke’s and Ida Darwin Hospital…
Pilgrim Pathways School is an alternative provision which provides educational support for children and young people with complex mental and physical health needs.
Cambridge United Foundation works as a delivery partner in Pilgrim Pathways School on a weekly basis, providing physical education sessions and wider learning support for the pupils.
The visit of James, George and Josh are an example of how Cambridge United Foundation utilises the power of football to engage and inspire young people across Cambridge.
The lessons were focused on the importance of the students and players making mistakes and learning from them, and how the players' experiences of dealing with adveristy has shaped their lives and careers to date.
They also took part in practical activities, creating chain reaction machines out of classroom materials – which taught the practical lessons of resilience and not getting things right the first time.
James Gibbons and Josh Stokes visited Addenbrooke’s Hospital, one of five current sites where Pilgrim Pathways delivers its educational programmes. The players visited two different wards and engaged with the young people there, both in bed-side visits, and in the aforementioned classroom activities.
Kieran Wood is a Youth Engagement Officer with the Foundation and delivers these classes with Pilgrim Pathways Schools.
“My role as a PE Lead, is to try and get the children out of their beds and provide them opportunities to be active, sometimes physically and sometimes mentally.”
He added, “It’s great to see the impact of wearing a Cambridge United badge. It immediately engages the young people, and it’s nice for them to spend time with someone who isn’t a nurse or doctor, while providing the benefits that the classes aim to have.
“It’s equally important to be able to provide some normality in these settings for the children, who are isolated from their schools and their friends.”
George Hoddle attended two sites on the Pilgrim’s Ida Darwin Hospital in Fulbourn, alongside Tim Walker – Head of Programmes for the Foundation.
"We were delighted to welcome members of the Men's First Team squad to Pilgrim Pathways School recently. As always, having the players visit added a huge amount for young participants in these sessions,” Tim Walker said.
He added, “George, Josh and James got really stuck into the practical activities and engaged the students brilliantly in their discussions on the importance of making mistakes. We are incredibly grateful to them for giving their time to take part in the activities."
If you would like to learn more about the work of the Foundation, visit the website by clicking here.