P2S RUGBYWORKS CEO, Fraser Griggs and Head of Coaching, Bob Dayman have spent a week in London shadowing the team at Dallaglio RugbyWorks to see the programme in action and see the inspirational work the coaches do to support the Young People in London who have fallen out of mainstream education.

They attended a number of sessions with Dallaglio RugbyWorks coaches; Mike, Kieran and Phil, seeing them deliver a variety of support to the young people. There were high-octane rugby based sessions and classroom sessions where the coaches helped the attendees with exam preparation and also assisted with CV writing and interview technique. All the sessions were very much focused on the on-going mentoring of the young people as part of their three year journey.

Fraser said ‘The week was very much designed to give us a unique insight into the workings of Dallaglio RugbyWorks and the help, support and guidance we got from both the coaches and management of the charity has really set us up nicely to roll out a replica programme in Western Australia.

The operations team in London showed us the evaluation criteria and measurement matrix they use to accurately capture the social impact that the programme delivers. These measurements are essential to demonstrate to our supporters that time and money is being invested to it’s maximum potential in Western Australia.

Bob said ‘The impact that the coaches have on moderating behavior and developing positive self-concept and interpersonal skills was a real eye-opener. The respect shown for each other, their teachers and the Dallaglio RugbyWorks coaches indicated that alienated youth can, and should, be provided with the opportunity to re-engage with mainstream education and/or employment opportunities.’

The visit to London is a key milestone in our evolution. It allows us to maintain our momentum towards the aim of achieving full operational status in 2019 after spending 2018 on developing our infrastructure, funding platform and corporate partnerships.

HEARING the words ‘I wish I was dead’ coming from a child’s mouth is unimaginable and the most painfully heartbreaking thing for any parent to hear.

For Alexander Heights resident Fraser Griggs, those words were the driving force for him to establish P2S Rugbyworks to help stop children from being bullies, or a victim of bullying like his 11-year-old daughter was.

Erin Griggs described being bullied as “absolutely terrible”, having to move schools because it got so bad.

“I tried to deal with it on my own but I was just a wreck, I didn’t cope with it very well and I just cried everyday,” she said.

“The bullies made me feel so alone and so unimportant and unnoticed, it made me feel so sad like I had just been stepped on over and over again.

“I did not cope well at all, I just wanted to stay home and not go anywhere and was definitely not myself.”

Erin said she kept the bullying a secret for about a month before telling her mum, but wished she had got help straight away because it “tore” her apart.

Mr Griggs said there was a feeling of helplessness “that you are somewhat powerless to protect your child from the abuse” they are suffering.

“Having seen my 10-year-old daughter subjected to a horrific year of psychological bullying at our local primary school, I was amazed to see how seemingly powerless the school claimed to be in such matters when it was simply her word against the word of the alleged perpetrator,” he said.

“To have my daughter say ‘I wish I was dead’ at bedtime after another traumatic day was heartbreaking.

“It is easy to blame the bully, but kids often grow up in difficult circumstances and having met the parents of the boy involved – I could certainly relate to the ‘you are what you’re exposed to’ mantra.”

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