Story added: 16th March 2023

Tyler's Story

Tyler is currently taking part in our 10-week ‘Onside’ programme – aptly named as it aims to get young people who may be veering in the wrong direction, back onside.

The programme works with several young people on a one-to-one basis and uses sport and physical activity as the catalyst for engagement and making a real impact on their lives.

Before being referred to the Onside team, Tyler had displayed challenging behaviours such as aggression. These problematic outbursts resulted in Tyler being withdrawn from school, now only attending 2-3 hours per week. Consequently, this also put a greater strain on his family as his negative attitude continued at home.

Tyler’s mum contacted the Foundation as she was anxious about Tyler’s current lifestyle choices and the impact this has on both his mental and physical wellbeing.

We thought Tyler would be a great match for our Onside programme.

Our Onside Officer, Maya, has been working with Tyler and his mother over these past seven weeks with the aim of improving his temperament, social skills, and reducing his social isolation. His family also wanted to improve their knowledge and application of living a healthier, active lifestyle, including meal planning, and exercising.

Tyler was constantly going to bed in the early hours and awakening mid-afternoon after gaming all night. To combat this, we decided to allot morning slots for Tyler and his mother to attend, which would encourage earlier bedtimes and being active in the mornings when he would usually be asleep.

When at school, Tyler would enjoy playing football and has always enjoyed being a goalkeeper. Using this love of the game, we incorporated this into the sessions, getting him active and diving around in the mud before talking about key areas such as his emotions and healthy lifestyle ideas.

Following on from these discussions, Maya set Tyler tasks throughout the week, such as noting down his food intake, eating fruit and vegetables and making sure he eats breakfast to kick-start his day.

So far during his Onside experience, Tyler has made multiple healthy lifestyle choices, one of which is cycling to The Nest for his sessions. Tyler has said he can feel a difference as he feels more “awake”, and he wishes he could take part in these sessions more often.

As a reward for Tyler engaging with the programme and applying himself to each task, he was gifted tickets to attend a Norwich game with his mum and his grandad, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Our Onside Officer, Maya, said:

“Tyler has been incredibly enthusiastic attending his weekly sessions and even within the short space of seven weeks I can really see a difference in his attitude and mindset.

“We are really impressed that Tyler is cycling to and from the Nest and that he is open and honest about what he needs support with.

“Tyler’s is starting to make healthy lifestyle choices, for example getting to sleep before midnight, eating fruit throughout the week and avoiding takeaways! Tyler is also a great goalkeeper and isn’t afraid to get muddy so we look forward to boosting his confidence even more so that he feels ready to join a local football team.”