BARROW RAIDERS’ Advantage! programme is back delivering sessions to schoolchildren around Furness.

The team at the community foundation were coaching pupils at St George’s, Burlington and Ormsgill primary schools last week.

Tee Riston, who plays for Paul Crarey’s side and is a coach with the programme, is pleased to be bring back the sessions to schools after the latest lockdown.

He said: “It’s been great. It’s nice to get to a bit of normality again – it is good for us being able to deliver sessions to school after the lockdown and home learning where kids haven’t been going out with not much exercise or social interaction. From our point of view, it is good to be going back in there delivering high quality sessions for the kids and helping them get active again.

“It is nice from a personal point of view when you are coaching them and you’re getting good feedback from kids and teachers. You can see in the kids’ faces how much they enjoy it and that is a really good feeling for me as a coach.

“Not only are they getting physical exercise which is important but they’re also picking up a variety of new skills and most of them are getting introduced to rugby – which is what we’re all about. We want to promote the sport of rugby and hopefully they go on the play rugby outside of school.”

Advantage! offers student a multi-sports programme and aims to promote sport, health and wellbeing and support disadvantaged groups, young people and adults in schools, colleges, and the wider community.

Graham Withers, teacher at Burlington Primary School: “The kids have had a whole host of activites and different games outside. They have really enjoyed it. We’ve had them here six times and it’s been absolutely fantastic. Having them outside is great for their mental health. We have had a few parents commenting that their kids have really enjoyed working with the coaches.”

In October, the Advantage! programme received £26,000 in funding.

This will help the team deliver various community engagement programmes, including Educating Raiders, which offers local schools coaching expertise, developing the skills and confidence of young people, and focusing on fun, small-sided games, and inclusivity. Overseas players also deliver multi-cultural workshops and offer reading support for free in schools.