The Big Interview: Unicef Kid Power

Tom Burstow, head of sports programmes, Unicef UK, speaks to sportindustry.biz about the organisation’s unique way of getting young people active, while educating them of issues around the world… 

Tell us about Unicef Kid Power?

Unicef Kid Power is a unique initiative which encourages children to get active whilst helping to transform the lives of other children around the world.

Children taking part in Unicef Kid Power are provided with the world’s first ‘wearable-for-good’ fitness band, which enables them to record their daily levels of exercise. Children are awarded points for the steps they take and these points are then converted into funding (provided by a partner) which is used by Unicef to help buy life-saving food for severely malnourished children around the world.

The programme is also supported by a specially created set of lessons, aligned to the UK national curriculum, that teach children about malnutrition and develop their understanding of their own health.  

Each participating class is also given a tablet so the children can sync their bands at the end of the week to track how many points they are earning individually and also track their progress against other participating schools.

It’s been trialled in Scotland recently and now the plan is to roll it out across the UK. How have people responded to the call? 

The pilot we ran in Scotland at the start of this year proved to be hugely successful amongst teachers, pupils and even their families who were keen to get involved too. We’ve had contact with teachers, academic institutions and companies in a number of other areas across the UK, all of whom are keen to participate in the programme in the future.

Building on the success of the pilot, we are currently seeking the support of funders to enable us to roll out of the programme across the UK in March 2017 so we can get as many children involved as possible.  

82% of recreational athletes are now using some form of technology, do you think the recent wearable boom could now have a positive impact on the social side of sport? 

Yes, certainly. For a few years now the wearable sector has obviously been growing at a significant rate which is why we identified as a good way to engage children with sport and also with Unicef’s work for children around the world. 

I imagine over the coming years we will see wearables having a much bigger impact as companies look at new ways to engage their audiences particularly with regards to social impact and we are hopeful that Unicef Kid Power will remain at the forefront of this movement.

As technology evolves, do you think this could be the beginning for ‘wearables for good’? 

We hope so.  We feel the key is to provide a clear and compelling narrative about the impact this technology can have.

In the case of Unicef Kid Power, the programme doesn’t just provide children with wearable bands but also educates them about malnutrition and engages them on global issues at a young age. This means they understand the importance of where the money raised through Unicef Kid Power is going and promotes a deeper engagement with the programme. For us, this is one of the main reasons Unicef Kid Power has had the interest it has to date.

US sports stars such as Alex Morgan and Tyson Chandler are also backing the project, do you expect any UK ambassadors to join the journey? 

Yes, as the programme evolves and grows in the UK we certainly see Ambassadors engaging in the initiative in a range of ways; participating in it themselves and encouraging their families and children to take part.

Do you think there are wider lessons to be learned, as children start to think about helping other children of similar ages? 

Importantly for us, this programme already sits within the wider Unicef UK Rights Respecting Schools network, which is focused on teaching children about their rights. Unicef Kid Power builds upon this, allowing pupils to gain an understanding of issues affecting children in other parts of the world.

We know from our work that children and young people are increasingly aware and keen to support others around the world and through the UNICEF Kid Power programme we hope to provide a means for them to do this.

Will the programme be available to adults as well as children?

We are at an exciting stage of the UK programme as we look to develop the roll out of the in-school programme and emulate the success of the US market. In addition, we are also putting plans into place for an out-of-school retail offer which allows us to take Unicef Kid Power to the wider market and involve the whole family.