Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes has visited Wolves Foundation’s exciting new mentoring project – Wolf Words – which is supporting children with speech and language needs across the local community.
Gomes, who has spoken previously of the challenges he has faced both now and through childhood due to a stammer, recently opened the Joao Gomes Institute, a charity supporting people with similar issues back in his home country of Brazil.
So, he was perfectly placed to visit Warstones Primary School in Wolverhampton, to meet young students on the Wolf Words programme which will deliver such a powerful impact throughout the city.
Wolf Words, funded by the Premier League and PFA Players’ Fund, currently supports nine students at Warstones and 32 children across five schools in total, with more in the pipeline as the project continues to grow.
“Wolf Words is a targeted programme which uses mentoring and carefully planned activities to help children grow in confidence, feel listened to and build positive relationships,” says Tom Varty, schools officer with Wolves Foundation who heads up Wolf Words.
“Sessions take place in schools and are delivered either one-to-one or in small groups.
“They are designed to be inclusive, supportive and engaging, with activities shaped around the individual needs of each child.
“A strong focus is placed on emotions, wellbeing and understanding how speech and language needs can affect mental health.
“Wolf Words works closely with school staff to sit alongside existing support and help children feel more confident taking part in lessons and everyday school life.”
Warstones School also has a dedicated Deaf Base and British Sign Language (BSL) is embedded across the whole school, with children with hearing loss learning alongside their peers.
Gomes’ visit was delivered across two sessions, initially in the Deaf Base focused on creating a clam and supportive environment featuring mindfulness activities such as Lego, Jenga and colouring, The second session took place in the school hall and focused on physical activity with Gomes joining on a short boxing-style exercise followed by a game of football, encouraging participation and teamwork.
“Joao was fantastic during the visit, quickly getting involved and making sure he chatted to all of the children, as well as showing an interest in learning BSL,” added Varty.
“This included learning the signs for ‘How are you?’ and ‘Thank you’, which the children were very proud to teach him.
“The impact of the visit was clear with children who often find communication challenging visibly more engaged and confident, asking questions and interacting positively with João.
“Staff commented on how meaningful it was for the children to see a Premier League player taking time to understand their world, particularly through BSL.”
Mrs Bayliss, SENCO and assistant headteacher at Warstones, said: "We were delighted to welcome Joao to Warstones and it was such an amazing session with Tom and the Foundation.
“Tom’s work with our pupils over the last term has made a real difference and had a positive impact on their self-esteem, supporting them to build confidence in their communication.
"For the pupils to then get the chance to meet Joao - who was so brilliant in the way he communicated with them - was such a memorable experience and genuinely brought a tear to my eye."
As for the man himself? The visit clearly had a really positive impact on him as well.
“This is so special and you can really see the impact the project is having,” said Gomes.
“I am really happy that the club and Wolves Foundation are doing this for me and helping to make a difference. Thank you also to the Premier League and the PFA who are funding the project.
“I want to give back to Wolverhampton for everything that the city has given to me, and this is something that I really believe in.”
