Alex Stark, who will be studying a Postgraduate degree in Secondary Physical Education later this month, is seeking crowd-funding support to help fund the mindfulness project’s delivery after a community fund previously secured was withdrawn due to Covid-19.

Whilst previously studying BA (Hons) Sport and Physical Education as an undergraduate at the University of Bedfordshire, Alex set up the Active Time School Kids (ATSK) coaching company in January 2018. He says it has provided both challenges and positive opportunities:

Having to manage day to day operations whilst needing to attend lectures and complete assignments was always going to be a challenge, but the support from the School of Sport Science and Physical Activity staff at Beds enabled my business to grow and develop, as well as allow me to achieve high grades in my degree.

Alex decided to launch this specialist company after identifying a need for less traditional sports to be delivered alongside usual extra curriculum activities. The company’s intention was – and still is – to get children active in schools in fun ways, ultimately aiding primary-aged child development.

After implementing a successful non-fighting martial arts programme in schools across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire in 2019, Alex teamed up with the Association of Traditional Shotokan Karate, run by his father Kevin. Over the past few months, Alex and Kevin Stark have developed a programme and laid out plans for delivering ATSK’s new martial arts-inspired mindfulness project. The father and son team hope to introduce this programme to schools across the region from early 2021.

Reflecting on his inspiration behind the project, Alex said: “I identified that there is no real support for helping younger age children cope with mental health issues and how they can gain strategies for a lifetime’s worth of support.

“By tackling the issues at an early age, we can help the children affected by mental health concerns to understand coping methods which will help them throughout their whole life. The added benefits will also help tackle issues such as eating disorders, obesity and how to avoid gang culture as we give children the self-esteem and confidence to make positive choices in their lives.”

ATSK’s mindfulness project will involve breathing techniques, meditation and other ways to help focus the mind. Once funding is secured, Alex plans to roll the programme out in a ‘blended’ format with a combination of in-person support at schools and the use of virtual platforms which children can access online from home, school and their local library.

There is a need for change in the way we support primary aged children with their mental health. This project is to make a change in the way mental health in schools is supported. Please remember to share!Click the links to find out more and show support: https://t.co/tBUYQ0Xhrh pic.twitter.com/qPECpVm1m2

— ATSK Coaching (@atskcoaching) August 21, 2020

After the project’s original community funding fell through due to the pandemic, Alex and his father launched a Just Giving page with a target of £10,000, for members of the public to donate to. Alex said: “We decided to look for support through crowd-funding and we’re running this at cost price, so no profit is made – every penny will go towards tackling children’s mental health and just £97 will be enough to cover the costs of delivering our child wellbeing initiative to a school.

“This much-needed funding will cover the costs of paying for equipment and resources, as well as paying the dedicated staff who’ll be delivering the mindfulness project’s programme in schools. These members of staff – many of whom are students from University of Bedfordshire – are given the opportunity to get paid at a fair rate and experience project delivery whilst being flexible around their studies.”

To help Alex, Kevin and Active Time School Kids reach their goal, please visit their Just Giving page:

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kevin-stark

The University of Bedfordshire’sSchool of Sport Science and Physical Activity hosts a number of courses available at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level, including Sport Science and Coaching,Health, Nutrition and Exercise and Clinical Exercise Therapy.