Ian Wright's unfit Kids

[Mrs H.]

I don't know whether anyone else watched this over the past 3 week - it's been fascinating and inspirational.

You can be as cynical as you like about Wrighty - but he is passionate, committed and hugely motivational. He took a bunch of kids never likely to be engaged in any kind of sport for various reasons (3 of them weighed 18 stone!) Bullied, cajoled, bribed and praised them for 6 months to a level of performance none of them (or their families - or their teachers) would ever have thought possible - and changed their lives. How ever much he was being paid to do it - he earned it.

These are the kids that will do anything to avoid acivity of any kind other than putting on the TV/computer and opening the fridge. Kids that PE teachers aren't ever going to bother with because they'll never be any good at anything sporty.

Wrighty then went to the local council to ask them to run his "afterschool club" out at 12 london schools for the next year - they replied "we already do netball, football etc" cmpletely missing his point that the kids who go to regular school clubs are not the ones he's trying to reach. they said it would cost £1million to do it. so he goes to sony (who make the play stations and profit from these kids) and they say no. the only money he got was from MicroSoft - enough to run the club in 3 schools for a term - he matched that with his own money to extend it to two terms - which might be enough for a couple of dozen kids' lives to be changed. The Government minister he spoke to was evasive.

Wrighty Effed and Blinded, wept and laughed, shouted and screamed at the kids in a way that contravened most of the BOF Child Protection Policy - and they adored him - even the most dis-engaged got of their fat back sides and pegged it round a relay and cross country course with quite astonishing turns of speed.

There were no namby pamby social workers telling the kids it's alright to fail because your dad's left and your fat and you have "issues". Wrighty just kept telling them they could do it - and they did and loads more besides.

Wright wants to run these clubs out all over the counry to reach the ever increasing number of kids who are hugely obese, socially inept and withdrawn and fast turning into the biggest time bomb our society is facing.

It should be made compulsory viewing for every sports development officer in the country

[eddie]

ha ha ha cracking

gotta love wrighty

[johnloguk]

Totally agree Mrs H, it was indeed great stuff and definitely should be compulsory viewing. I wasn't a huge Ian Wright fan before this programme, but he showed another side during the making of this series and I think he was genuinely passionate and concerned, not just looking to further his own career. He did put £170K of his own in there as you pointed out.

As usual the government minister was an evasive joke. That guy is destined for great things, he said the same sort of nonsense when confronted by Jamie Oliver . But the local authority took the biscuit for evasiveness and not answering the question, they really have done their PR training courses!

The critical point for me that would make all the difference is getting kid's fitness onto the league tables. Many of my family and friends are teachers and their lives are now dominated by league tables. Because kid's fitness isn't on a league table no one is bothered about it, that is the main problem.

Like you said Mrs H, it isn't about kid's failing, it's about kids succeeding and making something of their lives. No one is going to develop diabetes or die young from a heart attack because they weren't very good at physics, so why is it more important to measure that rather than their fitness

[DesignatedDriver]

haven't seen it, but heard him on Radio 1 talking about it.

good idea. not just fitness but diet advice as well - i know i could do with some of that!



although perhaps they just didn't have the correct genetics, if this article is anything to go by.

[EddieH]

The absurd thing about the poor government and local authority response is that by putting the required money into this they would almost certanly get it back in the form of National Health savings (not to say anything about benefits paid out to unfit social inadequates with no self-esteem) within as little as a year.

[Adventure Racer]

Different budgets though, Eddie!

[EddieH]

Yes Adventure Racer don't I know it. But for the Country - does it make sense?

Maybe the Health Service and the DSS should share the funding.

[ifititches]

The health service do put money into all kinds of local schemes, but it tends to come from budgets that are not ring-fenced and therefore get raided to pay for expensive new treatments and acute hospital services!
Nevertheless,I'd say it's always worth contacting the health promotion Dept or the Director of Public health at your local PCT if you've got a scheme afoot related to healthy living and activity. You can get their address off the internet

But I think sponsorship is the more hopeful way forward. Ian Wright's programme was mostly funded by Norwich Union who do pay for all the Star track schemes around the country that thousands of children join during holidays. No prizes for guessing why an insurance firm would see this as good sponsorship, but activity +/- obesity is such big news at present has there can ever been a time when sponsors could get so much free publicity in daily newspaper headlines?

Just locally, unfit inner/middle city youngsters get athletics coaching every Saturday morning from a junior member of my O club, on an athletics scheme sponsored (improbably you may think) by Aga the cooker firm. (This is nothing to do with the O club, she just happens to do both sports.) What subliminal messages Aga are putting across by this, so far from Aga Saga territory, I have no idea, but lots of the previously unfit, and their parents, have gone on into full blown athletics club
activities over the last five years.

btw, on TV programmes about disaffected youth involvement, did anyone see "Ballet hoo"? I caught the last bit, and it was fascinating

[Mrs H.]

btw, on TV programmes about disaffected youth involvement, did anyone see "Ballet hoo"? I caught the last bit, and it was fascinating

Yesi'm addicted to that too - again strong messages about discipline, hard work and respect among kids with the most desperate of back grounds - criminal convictions, drugs, violence fathers killing mothers etc etc. interfaced with somw very tough/posh/passionate/demanding task masters. Both sides are learning fast.

You don't get to be a ballet dancer by taking the easy route - these kids are not being offered an easy route - just an oppoortinity (I'm sorry I just walked an old lady home from a Macmillian coffee morning - she used to own a vin yard..........)As with the Ian Wright programme I found it profoundly moving and inspirational but I'm quite sure both of them are in total contravention of modern thinking regarding dis-engaged youngsters.

I am totally convinced that Orienteering is uniquely placed to deal with the modern double pronged menace of phusical and social neglect and I've been saying for years that our BOF officials should go to the government and say so (not cap in hand asking how we have to fit in with the government's programme but in an ascetive, entrepreneureal way saying what we can do for them and on what terms)

But I guess if even Wrighty can't persuafe them with his charisma, profile and passion then I'm not sure I can think of anyome at Matlock who could out perform him