Flip the Script – Dallagio Rugby Works

What is Flip The Script Friday?

Flip The Script Friday is an event where we invite organisations/adults onto our website/social media to answer the questions that young people have for them.

Why is it a thing?

This is an opportunity for young people’s voices to be heard and to have their questions answered. But equally, it’s a chance to destigmatize the discussion of mental health, highlight the great work that organisations are doing and to make reaching out for support from them less intimidating.

This week…

We collaborated with Dallagio Rugby Works who exist to improve the lives and futures of young people across England and Wales. We do this using rugby and it values to support physical and mental wellbeing. We also aim to raise aspirations and develop life skills to arm young people with the knowledge, confidence and belief in their futures.

Q&A Time

We had so many questions sent in by young people to our Instagram @platfform4yp and here are some of the highlights!

Its a great way to engage and makes people such as myself easily accessible to anyone looking for help!

The stigma is usually attached to the young people we work with. They can very often find themselves written off by society before their lives have even begun, you wouldn’t write a rugby game off after 15 minutes so why write a person off at 15 years old.

Just be yourself, find out what motivates you and channel your energy in that direction. If you like sport and have an interest in coaching, go down to your local sports club, ask can you get involved.

We are currently looking for some extra coaches. Flexible roles that would suit a university student or young person looking to gain a bit of paid coaching experience based mostly in Merthyr.

Go on to our website dallagliorubgyworks.com and click on join our squad.

I was excluded from several schools when I was younger, have been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD and tourettes and ended up homeless for several months. There was very little support when I hit my low and I want to make sure others do not end up in a similar situation feeling unsupported and worthless.

Your not alone, mental health amongst young people as a growing concern. There are people who can help you whether it’s a professional or just an adult/friend you can trust. Find people you can trust and let them know your struggles, very often youll find people just want to help, don’t suffer in silence.

We are hoping we can reach every young person in need across the UK, we want each and every young person to have the same access to support which will enable them to raise their aspirations for the future.

The stigma and labels attached to it. People with mental health are far more likely to struggle to gain meaningful employment. I’m lucky that Dallalgio RugbyWorks see my mental health conditions as a plus and enable me to set and example to others that mental health doesn’t need to be a barrier.

It affected us massively, we rely on sport to develop relationships with our young people so not being able to throw a ball about while talking to them made it very difficult to maintain connections. We have had to work extremely hard to reignite those relationships over the last 12 months and will continue to do so over this academic year.

Favourite team is Neath RFC. As a Neath native I grew up hearing about the famous Neath team of the early 90s and game day down the Gnoll is a fantastic experience. Favourite player I’d say Justing Tipuric. He has to be the most complete rugby player on the planet, you could literally put a team of 15 Tipurics on a pitch and he’d do a decent job anywhere.