A sports charity has launched a fundraising campaign to support disadvantaged children in London as the capital eases out of lockdown.

The campaign was launched by Greenhouse Sports, which provides free sports coaching and mentoring to thousands of children growing up in the most disadvantaged parts of London.

The campaign, called ‘Life After Lockdown’, was launched in June as part of a drive to re-engage children in education following months out of the classroom.

Recently, the charity pledged to double any donation as part of an annual weekly campaign called Champions for Children.

Although the week is over, ‘Life After Lockdown’ continues, as Greenhouse Sports continues to deal with the fallout from the pandemic.

Béatrice Butsana-Sita, CEO of Greenhouse Sports, said that the charity had lost around £1m in income over the past few months, due to events being cancelled and general uncertainty about the economy.

Béatrice Butsana-Sita said:

This is a really crucial time and the need and demand for the support and mentoring that our coaches provide in situ at schools is at a peak.

Greenhouse Sports helps young people realise their ability on a daily basis and at this time we want to be reaching even more of those in need.

The charity currently supports more than 7,000 youngsters in London, with nearly seven out of ten (69%) living in highly deprived areas and nearly eight out of ten (77%) from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

According to charity, reports during lockdown suggest a fifth of schoolchildren have done little or no schoolwork at home, with four in ten having no regular contact with teachers with many lacking internet access for online learning.

The charity says that the funding will help them to serve even more schools in London, with 17 schools already on a waiting list for the charity’s coaching and mentoring programmes.

Greenhouse Sports Director of Coaching, Jason Sugrue says:

It is so important that we are able to get to the schools and help the teachers with re-engaging the kids back into learning.

For more information on how you can support the campaign, visit: https://www.greenhousesports.org/donate/

Image by Greenhouse Sports.

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