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
Theo
Last Name
Gavrielides
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
Restorative Justice for All International Institute (RJ4All)
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2013
Initiative Title
RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports: Unlocking Community Spaces for Restorative Sports
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
Website: https://rj4all.org/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJforAll - X: https://x.com/rjforall - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rj4all_/
Initiative Stage
Established (You’ve successfully passed early phases and have a plan for the future. Your venture has been in existence for 6 years and above)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Children & Youth
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports unlocks underused community spaces in Southwark and transforms them into safe, welcoming hubs for restorative sport and physical activity, co-designed with young people to strengthen wellbeing, belonging, and long-term community stewardship.
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?
In Southwark, many children and young people face significant barriers to accessing safe, affordable, and welcoming spaces for sport and physical activity. While public parks, community halls and school facilities exist, they are often underused, inaccessible, or perceived as unwelcoming by young people, particularly those experiencing social exclusion, poverty, behavioural stigma, or past conflict within these spaces. Structural barriers such as restrictive access policies, lack of trusted supervision, cost, cultural exclusion, and fear of judgment prevent young people from engaging in physical activity consistently. These barriers contribute to low physical activity levels, social isolation, reduced well-being, and weakened relationships between young people, community spaces, and decision-makers. Young people most affected include those aged 12–18 facing school exclusion, emotional and behavioural challenges, or limited access to organised sport. RJ4All Sports is deeply embedded in the communities we serve. Our youth work, sports, and restorative justice programmes operate directly within Southwark, and our team works daily with young people who tell us they feel “pushed out” of spaces rather than welcomed into them. We are close to the problem because we see firsthand how the lack of inclusive, trusted access to spaces limits young people’s opportunities to be active, connect with peers, and develop a sense of belonging within their own community.
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 reimagines access to sport and physical activity by transforming underused or inconsistently accessed community spaces into shared, restorative environments where young people feel safe, respected, and empowered. Rather than creating new facilities, we will unlock existing spaces, such as community centres, local parks and school facilities, through partnership, trust-building, and shared stewardship. The initiative combines sport sessions with restorative practices (structured check-ins, reflective discussions, and youth-led decision-making). Physical activity becomes a gateway to reclaiming space: young people are not just participants, but co-creators of how spaces are used, when sessions run, and what activities feel inclusive and relevant to them. Landowners and decision-makers, including community centre managers, schools, housing associations, and local authorities, play a critical role by enabling flexible access, adapting usage agreements, and working alongside young people and RJ4All to remove barriers such as cost, limited opening times, or restrictive rules. RJ4All acts as a trusted intermediary, bridging the gap between institutions and young people through restorative practice. Our “aha moment” came from recognising that the issue was not a lack of interest in sport, but a lack of belonging in spaces. When young people helped shape the environment, setting values, norms, and purposes, attendance, engagement, and care for the space increased dramatically. This initiative formalises that learning into a replicable model for unlocking access through collaboration, trust, and restorative use of space.
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 are at the heart of this initiative. From the outset, they are involved in identifying which spaces feel inaccessible, unsafe, or underused, and in co-designing how those spaces can be transformed. Through listening sessions and restorative circles, young people help shape session formats, timings, codes of conduct, and the types of physical activity offered. Young people also take on leadership roles within sessions, supporting peer engagement, welcoming new participants, and helping facilitate reflective discussions. These shifts power away from top-down delivery and toward shared ownership of space. Community members, including parents, volunteers, and local residents, are engaged through open days, feedback sessions, and visible community use of spaces. This builds intergenerational trust and challenges negative perceptions of young people. Local schools, youth services, and community organisations support recruitment and referrals, while landowners and space managers collaborate with young people directly to understand their needs and adapt access models accordingly. This ensures the initiative is rooted in lived experience and shaped by those closest to the problem, rather than imposed solutions.
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?
This initiative builds on an established and evidence-informed model. Through RJ4All Sports, we have consistently demonstrated that restorative approaches to sport and physical activity can transform how community spaces are accessed, experienced, and sustained, particularly by young people facing exclusion and inequality. RJ4All Sports programmes have shown that when physical activity is delivered in safe, welcoming, and restorative environments, participation increases and communities begin to re-engage with spaces that were previously underused or perceived as inaccessible. Our work has turned community centres (Rotherhithe Community Centre), gyms, and outdoor spaces (Southwark Park) into trusted hubs where young people feel a sense of belonging, safety, and shared ownership. These spaces become not only places to be active, but places to connect, reflect, and build positive relationships. . Crucially, according to our impact reports (https://rj4all.org/our-impact/), restorative sport has been shown to reduce conflict, strengthen peer relationships, and improve how young people interact with both adults and their environment. Through this initiative, we will apply this proven model specifically to unlocking and sustaining access to spaces for sport and physical activity. In the short term, this will result in increased use of community spaces and higher levels of physical activity. In the long term, the impact will be deeper and structural: community spaces that are co-owned, better stewarded, and embedded as shared resources for young people and the wider community. Our evaluation approach, combining entry and exit surveys, case studies, and qualitative feedback from young participants, will provide robust evidence of both scale and depth of impact.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports is innovative because it embeds a scientifically grounded psychosocial model (RJiNEAR) into the way we unlock and activate community spaces for young people. Rather than treating access to space and participation in physical activity as isolated challenges, our approach links movement, identity, emotional well-being, resilience and social connection in one integrated framework. The RJiNEAR Resilience Model combines restorative justice principles with positive psychology and developmental science, emphasising positive identity, emotional agility, choice awareness, resilience and community connection. It reframes engagement not as risk management but as strength-building, helping young people develop internal assets and social supports that sustain wellbeing and pro-social behaviour over time. What makes this truly innovative in the context of sport and physical activity spaces is how these concepts are woven into activity design, space governance and youth leadership. Instead of simply organising classes, RJ4All uses RJiNEAR to co-create experiences where young people feel psychologically safe, emotionally regulated, and socially supported, making sports not just activities, but catalysts for deeper personal and community transformation. By connecting movement with identity and resilience, RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports unlocks spaces in ways that shift norms about who belongs there, how spaces are governed, and who holds power in decision-making. As a result, our solution is not only about opening physical doors, but about opening opportunities for young people to shape their own paths, strengthening both individuals and communities in ways that are durable and scalable.
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?
RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports is designed to be operationally viable and scalable. Shared-use agreements will reduce overhead costs and enable long-term access without reliance on capital investment. RJ4All’s established safeguarding systems, trained staff, and community trust provide a strong foundation for sustainability. To ensure longevity, RJ4All will formalise partnerships with space holders, diversify funding through grants and commissioning, and develop youth leadership pathways that build internal capacity. Over time, trained young people and volunteers will support delivery, strengthening local ownership. The model is highly transferable. Once agreements, protocols, and co-design processes are established, RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports can be replicated in other neighbourhoods facing similar access challenges. Learning from the programme will be documented in a practical toolkit to support wider adoption, positioning RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports as a scalable solution for unlocking access to sport and physical activity across London and beyond. Our ambition is to create a toolkit for unlocking access to spaces through restorative sport.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
This project is delivered through a collaborative model that clearly distributes responsibility while intentionally shifting power toward young people and community stakeholders. - RJ4All Project Lead: RJ4All provides overall leadership, governance, safeguarding, and quality assurance. RJ4All is responsible for embedding the RJiNEAR restorative framework across all activities, ensuring that sport, wellbeing, and space activation are delivered as an integrated model rather than as isolated interventions. - Restorative Practitioners: Lead the delivery of restorative workshops, facilitate reflective check-ins, and support young people’s emotional regulation, identity development, and peer relationships. They also act as trusted intermediaries between young people and space-controlling stakeholders. - Sports Facilitators and Coaches: Responsible for inclusive, accessible physical activity delivery. They are trained to integrate restorative principles into session design, group dynamics, and conflict resolution, ensuring spaces feel safe, welcoming, and psychologically supportive - Young participants: They play an active role as co-designers and leaders. They contribute to decisions about how spaces are used, help shape session norms, support peer engagement, and act as stewards of the spaces they access, shifting them from passive users to active stakeholders. - Community Partners and Space Owners (e.g. community centres, schools, local authorities) enable access, adapt usage agreements, and collaborate in shared decision-making. Their role is essential to sustaining unlocked spaces beyond the project's life.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
The initiative will be delivered in clear, phased milestones that support learning, adaptation, and long-term sustainability. Phase 1: Co-design and space/community partners mapping (Month 1) - Youth-led consultations to identify barriers, priorities, and underused spaces - Relationship-building with space owners and local decision-makers from our community - Agreement of access models and shared principles for restorative use Phase 2: Activation and Learning (Months 2 and 3) - Delivery of restorative sports sessions in unlocked spaces - Testing of RJiNEAR-informed activity design - Ongoing feedback from young people, facilitators, and partners Phase 3: Full Delivery and Embedding (Months 4 - 15) - Regular, sustained use of community spaces for restorative sport - Development of youth leadership and peer stewardship roles - Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation Phase 4: Sustainability and Scale (Months 15 - 24) - Formalising long-term access agreements and partnerships - Capturing learning into a transferable model or toolkit - Planning for replication in additional communities and spaces These milestones ensure the initiative moves beyond short-term activation toward durable, community-owned change.
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.
Participation in the 8-week capacity-building programme would be highly valuable in strengthening this initiative and supporting its long-term sustainability and scalability. While RJ4All is committed to engaging fully, limited financial support would help address practical costs associated with participation and ensure the design and implementation of RJ4All Youth Resilience Sports. - Consultant: Restorative justice practitioner (2 ½ days per week, 8 weeks, £250 per day) = £5,000 - Sports Facilitators and Coaches (4 sessions per week, 8 weeks, £35 per session) = £1120 - Travel expenses for volunteers (8 weeks, £25 per week) = £200 - Restorative Justice workshops (4 workshops per week, 8 weeks, £325 per consultation) = £1120 - Materials for sport sessions (water and snacks) (4 sessions per week, 8 weeks, £5 per session)= £160 - Team Training and Safeguarding - DBS Checks, training on trauma-informed approaches, and SEND sports to meet the high needs of youth (1 training x month, £200 per training) = £400 Total amount: £8,000 This support would enable RJ4All to maximise the value of the capacity-building programme and strengthen the initiative’s impact, without creating barriers to participation or limiting programme delivery.
