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 legal entity
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
Ashley
Last Name
Theophane
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
Treasure sports club
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2021
Initiative Title
Treasure
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
TreasureBoxingClub
Initiative Stage
Growth (You’ve moved past the very first activities; working towards the next level of expansion.)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
Free after school exercise club for children across London.
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?
Across London, many children finish school each day with nowhere safe or positive to go. After-school clubs often cost money, and for families already struggling with rent, food and bills, these activities are simply not affordable. As a result, children miss out on structured play, physical activity and support during the hours when parents may still be at work. The children who will benefit most from our free after-school club are aged 6–12 and live in communities facing higher levels of deprivation. Many are eligible for free school meals, live in overcrowded homes, or have limited access to green space and organised activities. Without affordable provision, these children are more likely to spend time indoors, be inactive, or be exposed to negative influences in their local area. Our free after-school club removes cost as a barrier and gives children a safe, welcoming place to go after the school day ends. Through structured physical activity, games and group sessions, children can build confidence, improve their health and develop positive relationships with their peers. For parents and carers, the club offers reassurance that their child is safe, supported and engaged. We are closely connected to the communities we serve. We already run after-school clubs, holiday camps and community sports programmes across London, and we work directly with local schools and families. Our staff and coaches see these challenges every day through conversations with parents and children. This direct experience shapes how we design and deliver our programmes, ensuring they respond to real needs and create genuine impact for the families involved.
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?
Our approach is simple and rooted in real experience. We bring free, high-quality after-school physical activity directly into the communities where children already are, using familiar and trusted spaces such as schools, community centres and local sports halls. By delivering sessions on-site and at no cost, we remove the main barriers that prevent children from taking part: affordability, travel and lack of safe local provision. The idea began in Westminster with our founder, retired professional boxer Ashley Theophane. Having grown up locally, Ashley understood first-hand how sport can provide structure, discipline and positive direction for young people. After retiring, he began running small boxing and fitness sessions to give back to his community. The response from families was immediate. Parents repeatedly told us there were very few free options for their children after school, despite many unused or under-used spaces nearby. That was our “aha” moment — the issue was not a lack of young people wanting to be active, but a lack of access to affordable, welcoming spaces. We work closely with schools, local authorities and community venue providers to unlock these spaces for regular use. By building trusted relationships with landowners and decision-makers, we are able to activate facilities during after-school hours that might otherwise sit empty. Local authorities and schools play a key role by supporting access, safeguarding and local referrals, helping us reach children who will benefit most. As demand has grown, our model has expanded across London, shaped by ongoing conversations with families and partners. Our approach strengthens local connections, makes better use of existing spaces.
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 and community members are central to how we design and deliver our work. Our initiative is built around listening to those closest to the problem and giving them a real voice in shaping the activities we run. We have created a Youth Board made up of young people who have either attended our sessions or live in the communities we serve. The Youth Board meets regularly to share feedback on our programmes, suggest new activities and help shape how sessions are delivered. Their input has influenced session timings, the types of activities offered, and how we create a welcoming environment for children who may feel nervous or excluded from traditional sports settings. We also actively employ and support older teenage participants who show an interest in coaching, youth work or administration. Many of these young people started with us as attendees and now help deliver sessions, support younger children and assist with programme planning and administration. Through paid roles, volunteering and structured work experience placements, they gain practical skills, confidence and a sense of responsibility within their community. Parents and carers are also involved through regular conversations at sessions, informal feedback and community meetings. This helps us understand local challenges, barriers to attendance and wider family needs. Schools and community partners support this process by connecting us with families who may benefit most from the programme. By involving young people and community members at every stage — from planning to delivery — we ensure our initiative reflects real needs, builds local leadership and creates opportunities for young people to progress from participants to role models within their own communities.
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?
Our initiative has already demonstrated clear impact in unlocking access to physical activity and sport for children and young people who would otherwise be excluded due to cost, location or lack of provision. By working with schools, community centres and local authorities, we have activated spaces that were previously under-used and turned them into safe, consistent places for after-school physical activity. Through a two-year programme funded by the London Violence Reduction Unit in Ealing, over 500 children and young people took part in regular sessions. Many participants were referred through schools and local services due to concerns around disengagement, behaviour or lack of safe after-school options. The programme provided structure, positive role models and a consistent routine during high-risk hours, helping children build confidence, discipline and stronger peer relationships. We are currently two years into a three-year programme funded by Westminster City Council, which has already engaged over 1,000 children and young people. Attendance data shows strong repeat participation, demonstrating sustained engagement rather than one-off involvement. Schools and parents have shared feedback highlighting improvements in behaviour, confidence and physical activity levels among participants. Looking ahead, our model has clear potential for scale across London. By partnering with local authorities and landowners to unlock existing spaces, we can rapidly expand without the need for new infrastructure. Our long-term impact is to normalise free, local access to sport, create clear progression routes for young people into leadership and coaching roles, and embed physical activity as a positive, accessible part of everyday community life.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
What makes our initiative different is not just the activity we deliver, but how and where it happens. While many after-school sports programmes rely on families paying fees or travelling to specialist facilities, our approach embeds free, weekly physical activity directly into local neighbourhoods across London. We focus on unlocking existing, everyday spaces — schools, community halls and local sports venues — and turning them into consistent after-school activity hubs. Our model challenges the assumption that high-quality sport provision must be costly or exclusive. By working in partnership with local authorities, schools and venue owners, we activate spaces that already exist but are often unused during after-school hours. This removes structural barriers such as cost, transport and unfamiliar environments, which are common reasons children from disadvantaged backgrounds disengage from sport. Another innovative aspect is our scale-through-consistency approach. Rather than delivering short-term or one-off sessions, we aim to run weekly after-school exercise classes across 10 London boroughs, reaching up to 1,000 children and young people. This regular presence builds trust with families, schools and young people, and allows sport to become part of a normal weekly routine rather than a temporary intervention. We also create clear progression routes within our programme. Children can move from participants to volunteers, paid session assistants and, eventually, coaches or youth workers. This strengthens local leadership and keeps skills, experience and role models within the community. By combining free access, local spaces, long-term delivery and youth-led progression, our initiative reimagines how sport is accessed in London.
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?
We have designed our initiative to be both viable and scalable by building it around existing community infrastructure, trusted partnerships and a delivery model we have already tested successfully. By using schools, community centres and local sports halls during after-school hours, we keep venue costs low and avoid the need for new facilities. This makes the programme financially realistic and easier to replicate across different boroughs. Operationally, we deliver sessions using a small, trained core staff team supported by local coaches, volunteers and paid session assistants who are recruited from the communities we serve. This approach strengthens local capacity, reduces staff turnover and ensures delivery remains consistent as we grow. Clear safeguarding procedures, standard session plans and ongoing staff training allow us to maintain quality while expanding. Our sustainability plan is based on a mixed-funding model. We combine local authority funding, charitable grants, school partnerships and small commissioned contracts, rather than relying on a single income source. This spreads risk and allows programmes to continue even if one funding stream ends. We also build long-term relationships with schools and councils, embedding our provision into local plans for youth engagement, physical activity and prevention. To scale, we will expand to weekly after-school exercise classes across 10 London boroughs, with a target of reaching 1,000 children and young people. We will prioritise boroughs where we already have relationships or proven demand, enabling rapid but controlled growth. As we scale, we will continue to collect attendance data and feedback from schools, parents and young people to evidence impact and refine delivery.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Roles and responsibilities are shared clearly across our team and partners to ensure the initiative is delivered safely, consistently and at scale. Our founder provides overall leadership and strategic direction. Drawing on lived experience and long-standing community relationships, he oversees the vision of the programme, partnership development and safeguarding standards. The programme manager is responsible for day-to-day delivery. This includes coordinating sessions across boroughs, liaising with schools and venues, managing staff rotas, monitoring attendance and ensuring all safeguarding, health and safety procedures are followed. They also handle reporting to funders and partners. Coaches and session leaders deliver the weekly after-school sessions. They plan and lead activities, create a safe and inclusive environment, manage behaviour positively and build trusted relationships with children and families. Wherever possible, coaches are recruited locally. Older young people who have progressed through our programmes support delivery as paid assistants, volunteers or trainees. They help with session set-up, support younger participants and gain experience in coaching, youth work and administration. Partner schools, local authorities and community venues contribute by providing access to space, promoting the programme to families, supporting referrals and offering local insight. Their involvement ensures the initiative is well embedded and reaches children who will benefit most.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
1. Programme Planning and Recruitment (Months 1–2): Finalise all 10 boroughs, secure venues, and recruit staff, coaches, and trainee assistants from local communities. Confirm safeguarding, health and safety, and session plans. 2. Community Engagement (Months 1–2): Establish Youth Boards in each borough, meet with parents, schools, and local partners to ensure the programme meets local needs. Begin promotion to families and participants. 3. Programme Launch (Month 3): Roll out weekly after-school exercise classes across all 10 boroughs. Track attendance, monitor engagement, and gather feedback from children, parents, and schools. 4. Progression and Leadership Development (Months 3–12): Provide paid roles, volunteering, and training opportunities for older participants to assist with sessions. Develop leadership capacity through Youth Boards. 5. Evaluation and Reporting (Months 6, 12, 18, 24): Monitor attendance, participation, and outcomes. Collect qualitative feedback from participants, parents, and partners. Share reports with funders and stakeholders. 6. Programme Refinement (Ongoing): Adjust sessions based on feedback, ensure consistent delivery, and address any barriers to participation across all boroughs. 7. Sustainability and Partnerships (Ongoing): Secure multi-year funding, maintain strong relationships with schools, local authorities, and venue providers, and embed programmes into local youth and sports 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.
If selected as a finalist, participation in the 8-week capacity-building programme may incur the following costs: 1. Staff Time and Backfill: Our programme manager and key staff will need to dedicate time to attend workshops, coaching sessions, and mentoring. We would require funding to cover temporary backfill or overtime for operational staff to maintain ongoing delivery. 2. Travel and Subsistence: Some programme sessions may require travel across London. Funding would help cover transport costs for staff attending sessions, as well as meals where necessary. 3. Materials and Resources: Attendance may require materials for workshops, training resources, or access to online platforms used as part of the programme. 4. Technology Support: Some sessions may require additional software, subscriptions, or equipment to fully engage in online or hybrid parts of the programme. We estimate that these costs would be met within the £10,000 grant allowance and would ensure full participation in the capacity-building programme without impacting the delivery of our core after-school initiative.
