Police football programme for Sheppey kids

KentOnline / KMTV

It's designed to stop young people engaging in anti-social behaviour.   Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00Wake up, go to school and then, well, in Sheppey, young people don't really know.

00:04Teenagers often don't have anything to do after school,

00:07with many hanging around the local McDonald's for cheap food and free Wi-Fi.

00:11Well, when residents complained about local teenagers not having anything to do,

00:15I think the last thing they expected was for the local constable

00:18to set up a five-a-side arena in the park.

00:21With standard activities like cadets and sports clubs costing money,

00:25PC Hughes wanted to give the community something they could do for free.

00:28It's quite a poverished area, so people said it costs money to do those things

00:33and not everyone can afford that.

00:34So we got in contact with Sports Connect,

00:38who just basically organise free sports sessions in the community,

00:43ask them how much it would be to fund them to come in and do a programme in Sheerness.

00:48And then through the Home Office budget,

00:50we've got to tackle kind of hotspots for antisocial behaviour.

00:53We've managed to secure some funding for a 12-week programme in Sheerness,

00:58which is what's running at the moment.

01:00The intention was also to target young people they knew were engaging in antisocial behaviour

01:05and low-level criminal offences,

01:07delivering letters to parents and inviting the teenagers to the sessions.

01:10The activity was originally going to run until the end of October,

01:14but Sports Connect extended them until at least Christmas

01:17and have begun plans to set up a similar scheme in Minster

01:20after reports of antisocial behaviour in the area.

01:23Over 100 young people so far have taken part across the time the sessions have run,

01:28with no pre-booking required and any age allowed to turn up and play.

01:32The constables received £5,000 from the Hotspot Policing Problem Solving Budget

01:36to address the issue,

01:37teaming up with Sports Connect,

01:39an organisation that provides sports as a way to bring communities together

01:42and create opportunities for those in Kent.

01:45So we've had various age groups come down.

01:47We've had as young as six.

01:49We've had some of the older children come down as well.

01:53It's been a real mixed age and ability

01:56and they've all really gelled together as they've taken part in the project.

02:00Over each week we've seen a group that's consistently come down.

02:04They've engaged really well with us at Sports Connect.

02:08We've really got to know a bit more about them as well

02:10and opportunities that we can provide further beyond these sessions.

02:13So it's really exciting to grow that rapport with the young people over here.

02:17The organisers have seen some young people see the event,

02:20take part and become regulars,

02:22who attend after school on a Wednesday and will talk to the officers,

02:25which they say helps the community feel of the scheme.

02:28With the event being free and on every week,

02:30they say it can provide consistency to young people who lack structure in their day-to-day

02:35and has changed the behaviour of some for the better.

02:37Finn McDermid for KMTV in Sheppey

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