The Golf Foundation, the charity that introduces young people from a wide range of backgrounds to the great sport of golf, has thanked HSBC for a decade of support and sponsorship of the Foundation’s headline national programme, HSBC Golf Roots.
See the impact of this joint programme at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM0ft8a_5dY
Over the last 10 years HSBC Golf Roots has introduced more than five million young people to the sport through schools, community organisations and golf clubs across the UK, using golf to help young people develop important life skills, or ‘Skills for Life’, that can enable them to thrive both on the golf course and in their wider lives.
HSBC Golf Roots continues to develop and the Golf Foundation has completed a new five-year strategy that will provide golf experiences to children of all abilities in 7,500 UK schools, helping to make the sport more accessible to young people from all backgrounds.
The Golf Foundation team works with committed junior-friendly golf venues – ‘HSBC Golf Roots Centres’ – and partners with the Youth Sport Trust to deliver golf extensively at the School Games (where 50% of players are girls). In clubs, the growing interest in family-supported team golf in GolfSixes League (in 400 golf clubs in 2021 thanks to investment from The R&A); the reaching of new audiences through Girls Golf Rocks (working with England Golf) and helping the mental wellbeing of young people in the ‘Unleash your Drive’ project, all seek to combine the joy of playing for youngsters while welcoming them in safe, positive, healthy and inclusive environments.
Of great value to the Golf Foundation, there have been more than 100 regional HSBC Golf Roots ‘PLUS’ projects which have supported a variety of community groups over 10 years, introducing the benefits of golf to young people from all backgrounds and abilities, including young people in economically deprived areas, with behavioural challenges, and with special educational needs and disabilities.
Over the past decade, HSBC Golf Roots has:
- introduced more than five million young people to golf;
- given 500,000 pupils a taster session with a PGA Professional in their own school;
- enabled 250,000 children to visit a golf club;
- given one million school children the opportunity to take part in HSBC Golf Roots competitions through the School Games;
- trained more than 10,000 secondary age sports leaders as volunteers to run primary and secondary school golf competitions.
Brendon Pyle, Chief Executive of the Golf Foundation, believes that one of the main reasons for the success of HSBC Golf Roots has been the shared belief between the Golf Foundation and HSBC that golf for young people should always be fun, innovative, inclusive and enriching.
Brendon Pyle added: “HSBC has been a fantastic supporter of our child-centred charity since the relationship started in 2011 and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank them in this 10th year for their continued support and always enthusiastic and expert backing. Together we have introduced a great many young people to this great game and we continue to explore how we can make golf attractive and relevant to new audiences in all communities, while finding new ways to use the game to help in the personal development of the young people we reach.”
Ian Stuart, Chief Executive of HSBC UK, said:“We’re incredibly proud of the impact that the HSBC Golf Roots programme has had over the past decade, introducing more than five million young people from a wide range of backgrounds to this great sport – teaching important life skills such as confidence, resilience and emotional wellbeing. Looking forward, we’re excited to explore innovative new ways to make the sport more accessible and inclusive to young people across the UK.”
The key to making the game more inclusive and reaching wider communities is the ability of the Golf Foundation to work with a variety of strategic partners. Within the sport, these include The R&A, England Golf and The PGA. Outside the sport, golf’s popular junior charity enjoys excellent working relationships with other young people-focused organisations such as the Youth Sport Trust, Sporting Equals and StreetGames, who all help to take the game to young people in their own local areas.
* See more of the Golf Foundation’s work at www.golf-foundation.org