Local Authorities

As well as partnering with over 900 schools across the UK, we have also worked successfully with local authorities to empower whole communities through chess.

The charity works with:

Schools
Libraries
Older People
Parks

The game is an effective but affordable educational intervention that nurtures skills children will use throughout their lives. As well as promoting cognitive skills such as logical thinking and problem solving, it also aids their wider personal development by rewarding forward thinking and engenders the ability to cope with adversity. Chess in the classroom has long been confined to the private sector but by working with CSC all children in your borough can have the same opportunities.

Participating schools receive all of the equipment and training for staff free of charge. They also benefit from a 30-week curriculum delivered by one of our trained tutors (who all have full DBS clearance) and free entry to national events including the London Chess Classic. The 'Every Child a Chess Player' partnership with the London Borough of Newham was launched in 2013; since then it has expanded to reach 21 schools and nine libraries. Newham children have also enjoyed success in national and international competition, (read here) proving what those from disadvantaged backgrounds can achieve when given the same opportunities as their peers.

Where Covid-19 restrictions prevent onsite delivery of chess activities, CSC has developed its provision so that lessons and clubs can take place online, through remote delivery or via ChessKid. You can read more about our Covid-secure Schools’ Programme here. We would be happy to work with you to develop a similarly secure provision in your setting.

See our recent impact assessment on the Every Child a Chess Player programme in Newham here:

But chess is not just a game for children. It knows no boundaries of age, gender, faith, ethnicity or disability, and can benefit every part of society.

We recently worked with Bracknell Forest Council for their year of self-care, running a 10-week chess course for the elderly to tackle the increasing problem of loneliness. You can watch our chess in action below

Checkmates

The game finds a natural home in libraries, that we can support for no initial cost with equipment, training for staff and access to online chess. A library club can run throughout the day as a drop-in, or with scheduled sessions for adults and children separately, and is an ideal volunteering initiative.

Giant chess sets or chess tables are a low-cost enhancement to public spaces and very popular in other countries: See here