Behind Bars Calisthenics Academy was set up on the Wirral in November 2020 to allow local children in the community free access to learn and experience the benefits of bodyweight exercise in a safe and engaging environment. Our experienced and certified coaches run free group classes at our facility in Birkenhead, which features a customised and adaptable climbing rig, a rock-climbing wall, monkey bars, a warped wall and a wide range of child friendly plyometric and fitness equipment, including jumping boxes, hurdles and parallettes. As one might imagine, our facility is not like a typical gym, and the highly versatile nature of it allows us to mimic obstacle courses as seen on TV’s Ninja Warrior, thus provides interesting and challenging fitness opportunities unavailable in most areas. We find this keeps children engaged and ensures we can measure progress objectively over time. Behind Bars also offers a wellbeing space for children and parents, equipped with cooking facilities, television, writing space and a dining area. This enables us to better develop community and signpost to other third sector organisations where necessary.
Since its inception, Behind Bars Calisthenics Academy has partnered with numerous regional and national organisations to optimise project delivery, including the Wirral Youth Justice Team, the Youth Justice Sport Fund, StreetgamesUK, Cradle to Career, Sport England, the Violence Reduction Partnership and the National Lottery Community Fund. One of our most successful and ongoing projects, Little Ninjas, targets 6 – 12-year-olds and facilitates free exercise for over 100 local children each week. However, we also work regularly with children at risk of school exclusion/offending through the partnerships detailed above and various local alternative provision schools and institutions. Neighbourhoods on the Wirral often rank highly on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), and our interactions through project delivery with local residents underlines what such national rankings actually translate to in terms of the struggles experienced by individuals and families across our community. Predictably, public services are broadly considered inadequate in deprived areas like Birkenhead, and any provision available is quickly surpassed by local demand, therefore the role of third sector organisations such as ours has never been more necessary to bridge the gap.
About Behind Bars
MISSION
Enhancing the physical, psychological, and emotional wellbeing of children
Our mission at the Academy is focused primarily on enhancing the physical, psychological, and emotional wellbeing of children who attend, and allowing them to explore their strengths and capabilities in a safe and supporting environment, alongside their parents and industry professionals. Our coaches have first-hand experience of some of the difficulties children growing up in disadvantaged areas often face, and we take the view that it is critical to instil constructive patterns of behaviour from an early age if we are to reduce anti-social behaviour in teenage years and beyond. We strive to help young people identify their physical and cognitive strengths, using exercise as a platform to improve confidence, resilience, and sentiments of self-worth. Moreover, we take proactive steps to ensure our facility and the projects we deliver are conducive to the development of social support networks for both children who attend and their parents and carers. This helps to foster new friendships and enhance community cohesion and togetherness, which has significant implications for overall wellbeing in local communities.
Little Ninjas – Numerous classes, with over 100 children and their parents attending each and every week. Sponsored by the National Lottery Community Fund and Springcare.
Early intervention programme for children at risk of offending/school exclusion.
Exercise and nutrition classes for children with weight-related confidence issues. Sponsored by Sport England.
We currently run several different free to access projects at the Academy.
PROJECTS
All our youth projects are free to access. We aim to enhance the strength, fitness and confidence of young people while simultaneously developing psychosocial skills and social support networks for the families who engage here.
SPONSORs AND PARTNERSHIPS
