Deborah Griffin, Chair of Trustees Bursar of Homerton College, Cambridge
Attending the SOHK Awards ceremony in London recently, where a child and adult participant from each of our operational areas is recognised was a very moving experience. Across the organisation, our staff are amazingly generous and dedicated people who really care for our participants and give them the tools to turn their lives around. Hearing the participants themselves speak of the great progress they have made, reinforces why SOHK needs to exist and continue to reach to more people.
It was therefore very difficult for the Board at the beginning of the financial year when we had to restrict some programmes to ensure our unrestricted reserves were able to be built up. For our delivery staff, it was painful not being able to deliver a course. However, the purpose of the Board must be to ensure a sustainable future for the charity through ensuring compliance with legal and charity regulations and sound policies with regard to financial, employment, welfare and safeguarding practices.
A new financial system and management reporting and a focus on the sustainability of particular programmes, enabled SOHK to end the financial year in a much stronger position. We can now look to the future of the organisation with more confidence and allow our very special frontline staff to deliver more programmes to reach more beneficiaries.
It was with sadness that two Trustees stood down to focus on their personal lives and families - long-standing trustee Neil Rudge and former beneficiary, Chile Mutumba. I thank them hugely for their contribution over the past years. And of course, we said goodbye to Jack Lewars, COO, who had grown up with the charity. We wish him and his wife Liv good luck in their new adventure.
Lastly, I would like to thank all the Trustees for their support throughout the year and the SOHK team for their commitment to our participants and vision.
Ken Cowen CEO
To capture why we exist as a charity, we have recently been using the strapline:
"SOHK – because life is an uneven playing field."
There is no doubt that there is a huge gulf in our society between the richest and the poorest - and the results of that inequality directly affects people’s physical and mental health, educational attainment, employment prospects, the extent of social inclusion and even life expectancy. School of Hard Knocks seeks to help people in need – children and adults alike – who have not necessarily been given the advantages that others have.
By applying a unique combination of physical activity, with a bespoke psychology that focusses on what we call our FIVE Cs (Confidence, Communication, Commitment, Cohesion and Control) we help the people we work with to define their own steps to success and then work out with them how they will realise their potential. We have always used this approach but we are seeing the need for its application more and more. Even this year we have seen increasing numbers of people who come onto our courses with diagnosed mental health conditions and see we are steadily adapting all of our delivery to meet these needs. I am, as always, so proud of my colleagues who combine compassion with professionalism to the highest degree. The work at the front line of SOHK is tough and we are constantly working on ways in which we as a staff team can look after each other as we, in turn, seek to work for others.
I’m equally proud of the team in the ‘back office’ so to speak who are tireless in ensuring that our critical work is supported, organised and funded. In October this year, my great friend and colleague, Jack Lewars, left SOHK to head up an incredibly exciting New York based foundation, still in its infancy but brimming with potential, called ‘One for the World.’ Jack has been with us from the start of the charity and has been monumental in creating a really strong infrastructure as well as being an ever-present source of wisdom and sound strategic thinking. It is a great credit to him that the transition between him leaving and new colleagues taking up key roles, has been so smooth.
We continue to grow: financially, in maturity as an organisation and in terms of delivery, which I believe is truly ground breaking in terms of the intentional combination of sport, psychology and mentoring. As SOHK grows however, so does the need in the UK and so the foot is never lifted off the accelerator!
It goes without saying that in order to deliver on our vision (that is ‘a society in which every has an equal opportunity to succeed’) and our mission (‘to empower people to fully realise their potential’) then we need an increasing army of supporters, champions, advocates and volunteers. If you fit into one or more of those categories already – a huge thank you.
If you’re not there yet, well, please come and grab a coffee with us and see where that leads….
Ken Cowen, CEO