I studied anthropology, and one of the field’s most important lessons is humans are defined not by what we build or consume, but by how we connect.
In cultures all over the world survival has always depended less on individual ability and more on the networks of trust, reciprocity, and belonging that tie people together. Connection is the oldest human technology we have.
Lately, I’ve been reminded just how hard it is to sustain. As we come to the end of repair works at The Greenhouse Centre, our team has been without a true home base for longer than we’d all have liked.
My days are spent finding temporary space whilst trying to keep us connected and focused on our purpose. It’s not glamorous work – it’s phone calls, favours, and compromises. But keeping some form of connection up is critical, because without a place to come together, those every day, informal connections that sustain a team can be hard to maintain.
If that’s true for experienced adults with established networks, how much harder is it for children who have never had a “centre” in the first place?
For too many young people, particularly in areas of deprivation, the structures that should provide stability – youth clubs, trusted adults, safe spaces – are missing. And just as disconnection among colleagues weakens performance, disconnection in a child’s life makes everything else more difficult – learning, trusting, even imagining a future.
Psychology gives us the evidence for what anthropology has always suggested – belonging is not an optional extra.
When children feel disconnected, it affects everything. We see it in attendance, in behaviour, in wellbeing, and perhaps most damaging of all, in the quiet withdrawal of those who feel the world has no place for them.
But connection also works the other way. A consistent relationship with a trusted adult is a protective factor against trauma. A peer group grounded in care, not competition, can buffer against despair. When these ties hold, the effects ripple outward. We see stronger wellbeing, better attendance and attainment, higher employability, and deeper community engagement.
Anthropology helps us understand why. Societies endure when connection is strong, not through conformity, but through care, trust, and shared purpose. Human progress has never been built on isolation. It is sustained by networks of belonging and by people showing up for one another, over and over again.
So, what’s one of the most important investments we can make in young people? Connection. We must invest in the people and relationships that hold children steady when everything else feels precarious.
At Greenhouse Sports, that is what our coach-mentors provide. They are not just sports coaches, but trusted adults who believe in young people, listen to them, and encourage them to imagine possibilities beyond their postcode. That’s why children in our programmes attend school almost three weeks more a year than their peers. Not because of better kit or slicker campaigns, but because someone is in their corner, every day, building trust, a sense of belonging and connection.
As a CEO, I know how demanding this is. Keeping staff connected, supporters engaged, and young people anchored takes time and constant attention. It rarely delivers quick wins, but it is also the only thing that lasts.
We’ll reopen the Greenhouse Centre soon enough (and I can’t wait). But the task will remain the same, keep the connections alive. Because new buildings or pitches don’t transform lives – people do.