FEELINGS of neglect, isolation, withdrawal, anxiety and loneliness. Such was the plight of many young people, long before the devastating impact of Covid 19.

It was against this back-drop in early 2020 that local sports coach Luke Dean launched a new ‘not for profit’ venture to help reintegrate young people in the Bradford area back into mainstream education and society.

He called it ‘Sport-Tec in the Community’, primarily a sports coaching organisation with a mission to engage with marginalised and isolated young people, particularly those living with physical or mental health issues.

In late 2020 Sport-Tec became part of the Co-op’s local cause funding scheme. The work of Sport-Tec will become even more valuable in the coming weeks and months as we emerge from lock-down.

The organisation also plans to work with its partners on wrap-around services through school holidays. Getting young people more active; creating forums for discussion; helping Increase dialogue with parents and families; reacting to instances of self-harm or thoughts of suicide and replacing them with a sense of hope and optimism through post-lockdown life with their peers.

In 2016 the Co-op reinvented its membership programme. It now costs just £1 to become a member, and for every £1 spent on selected Co-op products and services, 2p goes into your membership account and the same amount goes to support local causes. £79m has been raised this year for UK causes.

Organisations can apply to become a Local Cause by adding their activity or group to the ‘Co-operate’ online community (co-operate.coop.co.uk).

Sport-Tec has already received over £1000 from the fund this year. If you know of any young person who would benefit from such support, you can contact Luke on 07939 092092 or at sport-tec@hotmail.com and to become a Co-op member search for ‘Coop membership’ on-line or ask in store.