My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Ayo
Last Name
Thompson
Pronouns
He/Him
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Lead Organisation Name
Dallaglio RugbyWorks
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2009
Initiative Title
Ends to Ends London Cup
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.dallagliorugbyworks.com/, @dallagliorugbyworks, @drw_youthanimators
Initiative Stage
Idea (You have a solid concept and are hoping to get started in the future)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
A multi-sport tournament reinventing Pupil Referral Units facilities across London as valued home stadiums; enabling young people to reclaim ownership, pride, and representation through competition.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
We know through our extensive work in pupil referral units (PRUs) that these settings suffer from a severe lack of suitable sports facilities and even spaces for students to simply be active. It is therefore unsurprising that PRU sport facilities are rarely experienced as places of pride, ownership or belonging. This lack of positive relationships with these spaces contributes to disengagement, low confidence, reduced participation and weakened peer relationships. With the focus on the shortfalls of PRU facilities, there is a clear gap in provision that meaningfully celebrates PRU environments as assets. This is a gap that we are perfectly positioned to address. We have worked in over 12 PRUs across London weekly, engaging their students in RugbyWorks. Therefore, we not only know of these facility issues firsthand, making the most of the limited spaces PRUs have to be active, but students also complain about it to us. As such, our initiative is formed by direct experience working with young people in alternative provision settings, with the concept shaped through first-hand observation of how identity, space, and representation influence engagement and behaviour. Working with PRUs and students daily - directly informing us of the issues around sports facilities and the lack of opportunities they have to compete. Enabling students to be proud of their PRU’s facilities will lead to an increased sense of belonging, confidence and pride, whilst giving them more opportunities to compete in a friendly competitive manner with their peers in other London boroughs. Finally, PRU staff and wider school communities will benefit from gaining new approaches to activating underused spaces and strengthening student relationships.
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
We will address the problem by flipping the traditional delivery model for PRU sport. Through the Ends to Ends London Cup, instead of taking young people out of their environments, we bring competition, visibility, and value into PRU spaces themselves. The pop-up format allows overlooked PRU spaces to be activated without permanent infrastructure changes, unlocking access to sport in settings where traditional provision is limited. Tournament format 12 PRU teams across London 3v3 matches to keep games fast-paced, inclusive, and accessible Multiple sports, with each round featuring a different discipline Home and away fixtures, hosted at PRU sites to create fairness and ownership Home-ground advantage: young people select sports that best suit their available space Knockout stages: quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a headline final event The initiative was shaped by three ‘aha’ moments. First, observing that PRU students engage most when they feel respected, represented, and trusted with responsibility. Second, recognising that pride in place, not just participation, was missing from existing provision. Third, during a weekly session, a student at Francis Barber Westdean expressed frustration about the lack of competition with other students and schools. These moments made us ask: what if PRU spaces were treated like home grounds, not stop-gaps? We took this question to our Youth Animators, youth voice panel, and PRU students, who developed this initiative in response. PRUs are key stakeholders, acting as host venues and delivery partners, supporting access to space and safeguarding. Local authorities and education stakeholders enable permissions, coordination, and exploration of how learning can inform wider policy and practice.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Young people in PRUs are central to the design and delivery of the initiative, not just participants. Their experiences, preferences, and insights directly shape how the tournament operates. Young people are given autonomy by being involved in choosing sports that best suit their spaces, designing match formats and shaping the culture of the tournament (deciding which values, such as respect, creativity, and fair play, should underpin the tournament’s ethos). Our Youth Animators, who share lived experience with our young people, support tournament co-design sessions, ensuring young people have a safe and open space to voice their opinions. The concept of home stadiums is co-created with young people, encouraging them to take ownership of how their PRU space is presented, used, and represented during fixtures. Peer leadership is encouraged through young people taking on leadership roles such as team captains, officials, and event hosts. These roles help young people build confidence, responsibility, communication skills and respect for one another. Feedback from participants is gathered throughout informal discussions, reflection activities and post-event surveys, allowing the model to adapt in real time and for the collation of learnings. PRU staff and youth practitioners contribute local knowledge, safeguarding expertise, and contextual understanding, ensuring the initiative is responsive to the needs of each setting. Community partners are engaged where appropriate to support delivery, mentorship, or progression pathways beyond the tournament. The Ends to Ends London Cup prioritises collaboration with those closest to the problem by testing solutions with young people and PRU staff, creating a model shaped by lived experience rather than external assumptions.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
The Ends to Ends London Cup is a multi-sport tournament hosted across PRU facilities in London, designed to empower students to feel proud to represent their PRUs as home stadiums. Rather than removing young people from their environments, the tournament transforms PRU spaces into respected, celebrated sport arenas where students compete, host, and belong. POTENTIAL FOR IMPACT -By temporarily reimagining PRU spaces, which are typically underused or viewed as unsuitable for hosting sport, as home stadiums, young people can engage in sport within spaces they already inhabit and recognise as their own. -Creating visible moments where PRU spaces are celebrated rather than hidden, helping to challenge deficit-based narratives and shift perceptions amongst young people, staff, partners, and stakeholders. -Encouraging sustained engagement in sport through the home-and-away, multi-sport format. -Supporting young people to become more interested in sport, leading to positive physical, mental, and social outcomes, including learning new skills and making new friends. -Early feedback from young people and practitioners involved in shaping the concept suggests that pride in representing their own space increases motivation, teamwork, and positive behaviour during activity. FUTURE IMPACT -Increased regular participation in sport. -Improved confidence, self-esteem, and sense of belonging linked to pride in place. -Stronger relationships between young people, staff, and physical spaces within PRUs. -A tested, scalable model for unlocking educational spaces for sport that other alternative education providers could adopt. -Practical learning for decision-makers on how temporary, low-cost activation of educational spaces can support inclusive sport provision.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
This initiative is different because it is developed and led by young students, with a specific focus on engaging students within PRUs who have limited opportunities to compete in structured sport. Rather than creating a new facility or moving young people into unfamiliar environments, the approach focuses on reimagining existing PRU spaces. The Ends to Ends London Cup transforms PRU facilities into home stadiums, creating pride, ownership, and identity. The innovation lies not in changing the location, but in re-merging current PRU facilities so they become meaningful places to host fixtures and competitions. Sport selection is youth-led. Students choose which sports suit their space, creating a home-ground advantage and ensuring engagement is tailored to each facility. The format is pop-up and multi-sport, using fast-paced 3v3 games across different sports, with home-and-away fixtures and knockout stages that keep participants active and engaged. The competition uses creative, playful rules inspired by street-sport culture (e.g., FIFA Street/panna-style), encouraging skill, creativity, and risk-taking rather than relying solely on traditional scoring systems. Young people are involved in co-creating both the game formats and the culture/values of competition, building leadership, confidence, and a sense of agency. Our model is flexible, scalable, and low-cost, allowing multiple PRUs across London to participate without permanent infrastructure changes, and making it replicable across boroughs or school networks. It tests whether pride in space can drive participation, wellbeing, and behavioural outcomes, while generating learning for schools, local authorities, and policymakers on activating existing facilities in alternative education settings.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
The Ends to Ends London Cup is set up for success through a structured, low-cost pilot design. Delivery focuses on 3v3 pop-up tournaments across PRU facilities, requiring minimal equipment, small teams, and short-duration events. This ensures feasibility, reduces operational risk, and allows delivery within existing PRU timetables and resources. The model is built around youth-led participation. Students shape sport choice, match formats, and event culture/values, increasing engagement while building internal ownership within each PRU. PRU staff, local authorities, and youth organisations are engaged early to provide access, safeguarding, and practical support, ensuring smooth delivery and integration into existing provision rather than creating an additional burden. Monitoring and evaluation support sustainability and scaling. Feedback is collected from young people and staff to allow continuous improvement, making real-time adjustments that maximise impact, efficiency, and relevance. Once the model is tested across 12 PRUs, it can expand across London utilising the “PRU Home Stadium Toolkit”, documented learning and standardised operational guidance. Future scalability includes partnering with wider alternative education networks to replicate delivery across London, and working with sport associations, such as the English Schools’ Football Association, to develop the tournament into an official annual competition. Findings will be integrated into local authority sport and youth engagement strategies, while sponsorship and collaboration with major brands will support long-term sustainability. By building pride, engagement, and youth-led participation, the model has the potential to influence city-wide approaches to activating underused spaces for sport.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Youth Participants -Make key decisions on sport choice, match format, and event culture. -Take on leadership roles (team captains, referees, event hosts). -Provide feedback to inform the next iteration of the tournament. Youth Animators -Assist in co-creating event formats and supporting youth leadership. -Take on referee roles within tournaments. -Support young people in leadership roles RugbyWorks Project Lead / Coordinator -Oversees overall planning, scheduling, and stakeholder coordination. -Ensures project milestones are met and outcomes tracked. -Acts as the main liaison with GO! London and local authority partners. PRU Staff / Facility Hosts -Provide access to sports spaces and support day-to-day logistics. -Supervise students, ensuring safety and adherence to rules. -Accompany travelling groups of young people, with the number of staff outmatching the young people in case any issues occur. -Assist in co-creating event formats and supporting youth leadership. -Take on referee roles within tournaments. Local Authorities / Decision-Makers -Support permissions, safeguarding guidance, and resource alignment. -Observe and document lessons for future scaling. -Integration of learnings into sport and youth engagement strategies. Community / Sport Partners -Provide mentorship, additional coaching support, or event resources. -Help connect students with further sport or engagement opportunities. Evaluation and Learning Lead -Collects and analyses data on participation, engagement, and outcomes. -Produces reports to inform scaling, replication, and policy insights. -Creation of “PRU Home Stadium Toolkit” in collaboration with young people and other key stakeholders.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
Stakeholder Engagement & Approvals - September 2026 -Secure permissions from PRUs and local authorities. -Confirm participating PRUs and allocate home/away fixtures. -Identify key partners (youth organisations, sport mentors, local sports organisations). Co-Design with Young People - September - October 2026 -Workshops with students at each PRU to choose sports, event formats and event culture/values. -Establish team leadership roles and event culture principles. -Collect input on rules, scheduling, and space usage. Operational Planning - October - December 2026 -Finalise match schedules, locations, and equipment needs. -Recruit and brief staff/volunteers for tournament delivery. -Develop risk assessments and safeguarding protocols. Pilot Tournament Delivery - January - May 2027 -Run pop-up 3v3 matches across participating PRUs. -Host knockout stages and final event with multi-sport formats. -Document observations and gather participant feedback. Evaluation & Learning - September 2026 - August 2027 -Analyse participation, engagement, and behaviour outcomes. -Identify lessons learned and adjustments for future iterations. Scaling & Replication Planning - June - August 2027 -Develop a “PRU Home Stadium Toolkit” for other schools. -Engage wider borough networks to explore scaling. -Share findings with local authorities and policy stakeholders. Future Iteration & Expansion - September 2027 - August 2028 -Run the second iteration of the tournament, incorporating lessons learned. -Expand the number of PRUs and boroughs participating. -Integrate into local youth engagement and sport strategies.
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details.
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