Jack Harrison was on hand earlier this week to help support coaches from the Leeds United Foundation as they delivered some crucial workshops centred around anti-bullying.
These workshops have been delivered throughout the week as part of Anti-Bullying Week, which is an annual campaign coordinated by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Starting on Monday 15th November through to Friday 19th November, the theme of the campaign this year was One Kind Word, with a real emphasis on the importance of being kind and letting kindness fuel kindness.
Our Leeds United winger took time out of his busy training schedule to meet with participants taking part in a Premier League Kicks session in Bramley, with the youngsters able to ask first-hand about any experiences Jack may have had with bullying and any advice he had on how to deal with bullies and how to help and support someone who may be suffering with being bullied.
The online call with the 24-year-old was a special chance for the young people involved to learn more about a key subject that can really affect children growing up, whilst also giving them the opportunity to meet one of their heroes who spoke openly and honestly about why it is important to be kind and how being part of a united team with good people is one of the reasons, he loves what he does.
Richard Foye, who is the Senior Project Officer for the Kicks programme within the Leeds United Foundation, spoke to LUTV following the online call with Harrison, and said: “The call tonight was absolutely fantastic, and it just shows the support we get from the club.
“It’s really inspiring for the young people who are obviously used to seeing us come down, but to have someone like Jack to speak to them about anti-bullying during this week is really important.”
The Premier League Kicks team deliver football sessions and educational workshops seven days a week in the most disadvantaged areas of Leeds, and they have partnered with a charity called Barca during their Bramley visits, who do a lot of outreach work to support young people in local communities, including prevent work which is helping to keep kids safe, especially online.
Each year the young people involved with anti-bullying week want it to be about hope and the positive and kind things we can do to halt hurtful behaviour in its tracks. Bullying can have a long-lasting effect on those who both experience and witness it, therefore it is extremely important to educate youngsters on the subject and the detrimental effects it may have.
By creating conversation around the topic, through shared efforts and ambitions, hopefully we can help to reduce the amount of bullying that goes on.
For more information on the work being done by the Premier League Kicks team at the Leeds United Foundation, please contact [email protected].
