Who We Are About Us School of Hard Knocks' mission is to empower individuals to fully realise their potential. Our vision is a society in which everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. What School of Hard Knocks Does SOHK exists to support individuals who are facing inequality. We enable meaningful change in participants’ lives through: High Impact SportAll of School of Hard Knocks' (SOHK’s) programmes and courses use high-impact sport to physicalise the challenges our participants face. Through the use of high-impact sport, namely rugby, SOHK enables participants to improve confidence, communication skills, commitment, self-control and the ability to work well within a team. MentoringSOHK’s use of high-impact sport works in tandem with the application of group and one-to-one mentoring. Group sessions allow participants to gain valuable insights from both SOHK facilitators and their peers, and gives individuals the opportunity to understand different lived experiences. Each participant is also given one-to-one mentoring with an SOHK specialist to explore personal goals and challenges. The Power of the TeamSOHK engenders an atmosphere of genuine acceptance which allows long-lasting social bonds to be formed between participants. Our courses and programmes show participants how the individual strengthens the collective and how the collective strengthens the individual; participants are encouraged to maintain their relationships with course-mates once their time at SOHK ends. “School of Hard Knocks is about the development of the whole person. By enabling self-worth through an environment of genuine acceptance, participants move from a mind-set characterised by threat, instability and confusion, to one that promotes and maintains optimism, emotional resilience and ultimately life satisfaction. In essence the 'School of Hard Knocks' provides individuals the opportunity to find a meaning and purpose to life.” Dr Mikel Mellick, Practitioner Psychologist & SOHK Trustee Who School of Hard Knocks Works With School of Hard Knocks works with both adults and young people aged 11 - 16; the scope of our work spans across the whole of the UK. The lived experiences of our beneficiaries are varied, some of our participants may be homeless or living in extreme poverty, others may be victims of exploitation or abuse - there is no defining characteristic of an SOHK participant, but all of them are living in complex and challenging circumstances. Our aim is to enable our participants find purpose and meaning in their lives and to give them the tools they need to cope with their experiences. Schools Programme Participants SOHK supports over 1700 pupils every week of the academic year for up to three years to ensure our programmes have long-term impact. We deliver in 33 schools across Scotland, Wales and England and work with multiple cohorts within these schools. Each cohort typically consists of about 20 young people. Adult Course Participants SOHK supports over 200 adults every year with Adult Courses being delivered across Scotland and Wales. Our Adult Course delivery differs to that of the Schools Programme in that it is a shorter, sharper and more intensive 8-12 week intervention as this proves to be more effective with this demographic. SOHK SCHOOLS PROGRAMME. SOHK ADULT COURSES Manage Cookie Preferences