A Hull FC Community Foundation project is bringing young people in East Yorkshire great enjoyment and new social connections.

‘It’s Your Game’ has been running for over half a year now, bringing young people in Withernsea together to get active with a variation of different sports on offer.

In addition, participants are taught various life skills, key in the programme’s bid to reduce the prevalence of anti-social behaviour in the town.

Joshua, aged 11, told hullfcfoundation.co.uk: “The sessions are good – we get to play our favourite sports but we also get to learn about different sports as well, and I really enjoy that.”

Also aged 11, Zach said: “I really enjoy meeting new people from Withernsea. It gives me a chance to get to know more people before I move up to High School.”

“Learning about some of the life skills are really important, I think. We get taught a lot about that by Ryan,” Jerry added.

Since the launch of the programme, which is run in association with the Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, over 40 participants have got involved with the free-to-attend sessions, which run on Thursday and Friday evenings.

The Foundation’s Youth Diversionary Lead Ryan Gibbons, who delivers the sessions in Withernsea, has seen first-hand just what kind of an impact the programme has had on the young locals.

“A lot of the participants have been with us since the project started and we have noticed a positive difference in the way they act and react to situations,” he said.

“The most common example is during the games we play at the sessions. Rather than arguing over decisions, they now get on with the game and support one another. It really is great to see the progress that’s been made.

“Every session we deliver has a different theme. So some of the sessions are based around resilience, decision-making, goal-setting and being role models.”

For more information on the ‘It’s Your Game’ project, please email ryan.gibbons@hullfc.com.