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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

Football coaching boosts wellbeing of troubled pupils, study finds

A coach fist-bumps a pupil on a school football pitch
The charity behind the approach, Football Beyond Borders, sends mentors into schools to act as trusted adults for children Photograph: none

Intensive mentoring for troubled schoolchildren using football kickabouts can significantly enhance wellbeing, increasing happiness equivalent to an unemployed adult getting a job, a study has found.

A project involving more than 2,000 pupils in dozens of secondary schools in Greater Manchester showed that instead of wellbeing declining among pupils at risk of exclusion who had behavioural issues and special educational needs, their happiness scores increased.

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