Portsmouth Teenage Project is pleased to announce the beginning of an exciting new partnership with the University of Portsmouth, marking the start of closer collaboration between students and the charity’s community programmes.
The partnership has already begun with a fully funded first aid training course offered by the charity to a group of university students, many of them freshers. This gives the students an opportunity to gain essential skills to enable them to work with our young people, whilst meeting the incredible Portsmouth Teenage Project staff and understanding the difference the charity makes to young people with additional needs living in Portsmouth.
The collaboration is being developed alongside Dr Martina Navarro, Senior Lecturer in Skill Acquisition from the University’s School of Psychology, Sport and Health Science. Together, the aim is to connect students from sport and exercise backgrounds, with local opportunities that allow them to gain hands-on experience while supporting inclusive community activity.
The next stage of this partnership will focus on PLAYCE Pompey, a new initiative designed to bring free, accessible sports sessions to young people, supported by the charity. Starting in the new year, students will volunteer their time to help facilitate these sessions at an outdoor MUGA pitch (multi-use games area), under the supervision of Dr Navarro and the charity’s staffing team.
The sessions will be part of a wider vision to make sport more inclusive and enjoyable for everyone, while providing university students with valuable experience in leadership, communication and adaptive coaching. By giving students the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the local community, the project also aims to encourage ongoing involvement in other areas of Enable Ability’s work, with weekly social activities, day trips and holiday programmes. By the charity getting involved in such projects, we are ultimately keeping the cost of activities down, making the sessions we deliver affordable for everyone; with further plans to collaborate with the Aspex Gallery, delivering affordable creative projects with the young people we work with.
Dr Navarro commented that this new collaboration offers a positive model for community partnership, giving students the chance to develop practical skills while supporting a charity that already has strong roots with the local community. She also highlighted that students will be able to register their volunteering through the University’s Employability Service, ensuring their experience contributes to their personal and professional development.
For the Portsmouth Teenage Project, this partnership marks a significant step towards creating long-term links between higher education and local community services, ensuring that both young people and students benefit from shared experiences, inclusion and opportunity.
Huge shout out and our thanks goes to the Neuro Disability Network for delivering exceptional top-class first aid training, further information on what else they deliver can be found here.
