00:00Over a hundred primary school pupils have been taking part in the WASP Sports Festival at Walls End Boys Club.
00:06The event brings together local schools with community sports organisations,
00:11giving children the chance to experience a range of activities while learning more about clubs and opportunities available in the
00:17area.
00:18We're at Walls End Boys Club today with six of our schools from Walls End.
00:23We have 13 primaries all being invited along over the next two days to celebrate the end of term,
00:30to come together to do some activities all together, meet new people that will be transitioning to their secondary school
00:36with, and just to have some fun.
00:37It's a group of local organisations who got together to provide a school sport offer in the Walls End area,
00:44trying to make school sport more affordable, more sustainable, and combining resources to come up with a school sport offer.
00:51As part of the launch event last year, we hosted this festival. We had great success, so we've decided to
00:57host it again.
00:57I started at Walls End Boys when I was nine, ten. I then went on to play professional football, so
01:06I moved to London, travelled a bit,
01:10and I've ended up going back to St Aidan's, just trying to give something back to the kids.
01:17Eleven years later, I'm still doing it, still enjoying it.
01:22The festival is organised through the Walls End Active Sports Partnership, or WASP, bringing together organisations including Walls End Boys
01:30Club,
01:30Cricket Cube, Walls End Rugby Club, Sporting Walls End, and other community groups.
01:36Organisers say the event has expanded this year by adding a second day after last year's festival attracted more than
01:42200 year six pupils.
01:45Throughout the event, children have met qualified coaches, tried different sports, and learned about activities they can't continue beyond school.
01:53Watching them try new things and enjoying it as well. Some children don't like being in the classroom as much,
01:59so it kind of appeals to them more as well.
02:02Just to get kids off their iPads, off their phones, it's like, the kids don't play out like they used
02:09to now, and if you've got somewhere to come where it's a safe environment, it can only be a good
02:17thing.
02:17They organise events within schools, so for Sports Week, a lot of schools have been running different sports days.
02:23These guys have gone in and they've run them on behalf of the school, so it's a really good way
02:29for school to get multi-sports within their school, without needing the staff to be trained to coach those sports.
02:35It's about Walls End, and it's about the offer that's running all year round, and normally we'd love to see
02:40some of the young people here today one day deliver and lead on this event.
02:43Organisers hope the festival will encourage more young people to stay active and to become involved with local clubs.
02:50They say building links between schools and community organisations is an important part of creating lasting opportunities for children across
02:58North Tyneside.
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