Deutsche Bank and London Scottish are today delighted to announce the start of Game Changers, a joint community-focused programme which combines education and rugby to make a real impact on young people’s lives.

2014 is the second year of this initiative and over an eight-week period, 25 students most at risk of exclusion from school will use rugby as a vehicle to drive behavioural change through a comprehensive sports education programme.

The programme has been designed and will be delivered by Activate Sports, specialists in sports education and community programmes.

Deutsche Bank's UK staff volunteers will support both classroom mentoring sessions and rugby coaching as part of its corporate volunteering programme.

Deutsche Bank UK CEO and member of the Group Executive Committee, Colin Grassie said: “The Game Changers partnership focuses on young people most in need to develop skills, build confidence and encourage ambitions.

“Encouraging young people to believe in the values of hard work, discipline, self-esteem and the development of natural talent is a key focus within Corporate Citizenship at Deutsche Bank.

“We strongly believe that by combining sports and education we can help young people to take the next step in life.”

London Scottish Chief executive Kenny Baillie said: “We are really pleased to be supporting such a worthwhile community initiative once again and are delighted that our main club sponsor Deutsche Bank sees Game Changers as a fundamental part of Born to Be, their youth engagement programme.

“London Scottish has a strong community programme. We deliver a comprehensive rugby coaching programme to 30+ schools in south west London and we always aim to engage, inspire and develop youngsters by promoting lifestyle and activities around sport.”

– Game Changers is part of Born to Be – the Deutsche Bank youth engagement programme which supports realising young people’s potential, improving their academic achievement and raising their aspirations.