For many young people growing up in low-income communities, access to sport and inspiring opportunities are not guaranteed. These experiences are often out of reach, limited to those with the money and resources to access them.

Variety, the Children’s Charity is helping change that by providing Sunshine Coaches to organisations like Football Beyond Borders, which believes in the power of opportunity for all.

An education and inclusion charity, Football Beyond Borders uses football to engage young people aged 11 to 16 from challenging backgrounds in school and beyond.

Andy Garlick, a practitioner at the organisation explains, “We work with the most at-risk young people. We do classroom sessions, football sessions, one-to-one therapeutic mentoring and parental engagement.”

For Andy, sport has the potential to improve young people’s lives.

Andy Garlick, Football Beyond Borders

“Sport is such a powerful tool for helping young people to see a positive identity in themselves, but also to self-regulate. Physical exercise is an absolute non-negotiable for me in being able to regulate my emotions and mental health.

“I think the earlier that young people can understand what they need to regulate themselves, the better they’ll be able to function and succeed as adults.”

Sport is such a powerful tool for helping young people to see a positive identity in themselves.”

He sees first-hand how access to sport can positively impact young people and their families facing complex circumstances, like Adnan, a 12-year-old boy from London.

“Adnan finds it really hard to regulate himself in school, often just needs a moment to stop and think and in the pressure of school life, that’s really difficult.

“Having us as a service to fill those gaps that maybe teachers can’t support him with has really, really made a big difference to him, made a big difference to his mum and the way that he sees himself too. I speak to most of these boys’ parents every week and they feel the benefit.”

Adnan, participant from Football Beyond Borders

At Football Beyond Borders, access to sport is for all young people, no matter their background or ability. Their inclusive programmes support children with a range of needs.

“We work with whoever the school feels need it most and that can include a wide range of abilities. We run a programme at an SEN school where all the young people have an educational healthcare plan (EHCP), and inclusion in sport is something that a lot of those young people haven’t experienced.

It’s important to get children with different abilities involved because that’s a reflection of the world we live in.”

“The quicker you can get them used to the way the world really is with a massive range of different abilities, interests, skills, the more that prepares them for real life.”

A vital aspect of the organisation’s work is taking young people out of environments where they face systemic barriers and exposing them to new experiences they wouldn’t normally access.

From inspiring trips to sporting stadiums to visiting workplaces for career development workshops, these opportunities help build young people’s confidence, social skills and aspirations, while fostering a sense of belonging.

But transport was a significant barrier for the team. They faced challenges with logistics, relying heavily on public transport, taxis and staff vehicles. Their setup limited the experiences they were able to offer, making it costly and complex to organise outings.

“We could only go to something that’s within public transport areas. It means that we’d also have to pay for it. It limits the amount of things we can do with young people, it limits the amount of time that we have to do it, and it limits our funding too,” Andy comments.

In 2019, Variety stepped in to remove that barrier, helping make access to sport and inspiring opportunities possible by providing a Sunshine Coach for the young people they support across Manchester.

As the organisation expanded into new regions, Variety continued its support, providing a further Sunshine Coach in 2025 to help children in the West Midlands.

Used 45 weeks of the year, the impact of the Sunshine Coaches goes far beyond simply getting from A to B.

It opens up possibilities. We can take young people on trips, for example to the seaside on the Sunshine Coach.”

“That was amazing because that would take so long with public transport and getting different connections and changes, it would have cost us a lot more money.

“Going on a trip on a Sunshine Coach, it gives them more of a sense of adventure. It’s a really nice experience in itself. Transformational experiences are such an important part of what we do. With these trips, the children can connect with each other in a different way.”

For many of the young people Football Beyond Borders supports, these are experiences they may never otherwise have. They often live in areas of high deprivation and face multiple challenges at home and at school.

“Sometimes opportunities are reserved for those who have the money or the privilege to do it. A lot of the young people would never have these opportunities and that’s why it’s so beautiful to be able to do it,” Andy comments.

With compounding challenges at home, young people can often disengage from education at an early age. They can find it difficult to be in a traditional classroom environment which, for Andy, makes learning in different settings even more essential.

“For me, taking them outside of school is so different. You get to see a different side of them, even as soon as they’re getting on the coach, they’re just so excited.”

It increases their confidence and ability to see themselves succeeding in different areas of life.”

By removing the barrier of transport, Variety’s Sunshine Coaches are helping ensure that access to sport, inclusion and life-changing experiences isn’t limited by circumstance, but open to every child.

“Thank you so much,” Andy says. “So many opportunities are opening up for young people. We really appreciate that support and the young people do too.”