Rugby / Ashton Gate
Hundreds of students participate in Bears’ ‘Celebration of Sport’
More than 300 students from 20 schools across the greater Bristol area took to the pitch at Ashton Gate on Tuesday morning, concluding the end of their year with the Bristol Bears Community Foundation.
The Celebration of Sport 2025 is an opportunity offered to all young people who take part the foundation’s programmes to come together for a day of sport, learning and fun.
Bears Community Foundation is the team’s official charity and works to support young people through a series of challenges ranging from struggling to engage in mainstream education to self esteem and body confidence.
is needed now More than ever
Apart from playing rugby matches alongside Bristol Bears Community Foundation coaches, students took part in workshops delivered by Bears team members and official partners, including Morgan Lovell, XLedger and Aspire.
Students attend Celebration for Sport 2025. Photo: Kate Onley-Gregson
Holly Phillips, a hooker for Bristol Bears Women, led a session on social media for girls as part of the Bear in Mind programme that aims in helping 14-16yr old girls to build confidence and resilience and use sport as a tool to understand physical and mental health among other things.
Phillips described the workshop on Tuesday as a “unique setup” that enables them to have “quite a serious and heavy conversation, but make light of it and find ways and avenues to spark conversations” with the team.
They continued: “It was really cool to see them having a laugh and a joke with us, but then also the little light bulbs that are going off.
“Hopefully they can relate to it and take away a broader outlook on social media and how it can be a positive and a negative.”
The young girls also had the thrilling chance to meet several Bristol Bears players, including Ilona Maher, in December 2024 as part of the team’s Bears Giving Back Day.
Holly Philips started playing for the Bristol Bears in 2020
All projects offered by the foundation are purposefully designed to use sport as a tool to teach teamwork, communication, problem solving and resilience, harnessing the power of Bears players as positive role models to inspire young people and raise their aspirations.
Bears Community Foundation CEO, Jamie Skinner said : “The club places community at the heart of everything it does. Players being involved raises the aspirations of these young people.
“Ultimately, they are positive role models in their respective communities.”
Other programmes represented today include Hitz, an education and employability scheme for 14-18yr olds; Spectrum Sports, designed specifically for the Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) sector; and Project Rugby, which works to increase participation in rugby from traditionally underrepresented groups.
Charlie Cox, a student at Abbeywood Community School, attended the event to celebrate the end of his time on the Bright Sparks programme which is built to support young people at schools in Bristol Somerset located in some of the most deprived wards in the country.
Through the programme, Charlie has learnt to “be better in school and how to help each other”.
He continues: “When someone makes a mistake, instead of moaning at them they teach you how to go ‘that’s alright mate, keep going’.”
As well as the opportunity to play outside on the pitch Charlie enjoyed the workshops, particularly one on learning to be responsible with money:
“I thought it was really good because sometimes we don’t get that sort of advice. So it was very useful to get that today.”
The ability to identify the students who will benefit most from the support available is made possible by close collaboration between the foundation and local schools. Additionally, strong partnerships with key stakeholders in the city help improve the support offered to young people.
As programmes wrap up for the academic year, Jamie assured that “across all of our programmes, we aim to provide a touch point for young people to transition into”.
“We’re really passionate about ensuring that there are positive exit routes for young people coming to the end of their programme,” he added.
“We hope they go on to achieve the things they want to achieve, but we continue providing additional support to those young people that need it.”
All photos: Kate Onley-Gregson
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