Hundreds of young adults living in inner city communities
affected by youth crime and anti-social behaviour will be given
free cricket sessions, thanks to a National Lottery grant of just
under £1million.
The funding from Sport England will provide weekly cricket to
around 11,000 16 to 24 year olds in deprived areas of Birmingham,
Bristol, Hull, Liverpool, London and Manchester over the next three
years.
The initiative is part of the Cricket Foundation’s national
StreetChance scheme, supported by Barclays Spaces for Sports. It
aims to stop teenagers dropping out of sport after the age of 16,
and to keep them off the streets and away from crime and
anti-social behaviour.
It will also provide opportunities for young adults not in
education, employment or training (NEETs) to develop and gain work
experience and qualifications towards employment, as well as
encouraging friendly relations between them and the local
police.
The community sessions will involve a fast-paced version of the
game which uses a tapeball – a tennis ball wrapped in electrical
tape – where innings lasts for 20 balls and games for 20 minutes.
They will also feature weekly coaching and matches, along with
an outreach hour at every session which provides a vital
opportunity for coaches to build a rapport with young adults,
deliver educational opportunities and discuss local
issues. The games
Six-a-side street cricket competitions will run throughout the
summer and a StreetChance Inner-City League will run for six months
from October. League matches will take place at the weekend and all
community participants will be invited to join for free, in
exchange for volunteering on StreetChance youth programmes in their
area.
In addition, StreetChance will provide four bursaries each year
to teams that have shown a good commitment and attitude throughout
the year and who wish to compete in the popular amateur cricket
league, ‘Last Man Stands’.
There will be 12 projects in 2012 and a further 16 projects from
2013. This year will see new projects launched in Birmingham
(Aston, Nechells, Sparkhill, Saltley), London (Hackney, Haringey,
Islington, Tower Hamlets) and Manchester (Cheetham Hill, Longsight,
Moss Side, Old Trafford). From April 2013, additional projects will
be introduced in four areas of Bristol, Hull, Liverpool and
London.
By engaging with local police across all the projects, StreetChance
is helping to break down barriers between police and young people.
Meanwhile, scores of young people have gained experience by working
on the project and undertaking coaching, umpiring and sports
journalism courses; all funded by StreetChance.
Chair of Sport England, Richard Lewis, said, “We’re delighted
that our Lottery funding will open up opportunities for young
adults who aren’t in work or education. StreetChance demonstrates
the power of sport to change the lives of young people.”
Chief Executive of Cricket Foundation, Wasim Khan added, “Making
cricket accessible and driving participation in deprived,
inner-city areas has always been at the heart of what StreetChance
works to achieve. We’re delighted that, through lottery funding
provided by Sport England, we can now extend the age group to
include young adults.”
StreetChance is a partnership between the Cricket Foundation and
Barclays Spaces for Sports which has already engaged 20,000 young
people, aged eight to 18, since it launched in 2008. It works with
County Cricket Boards, Metropolitan Police Service, County
Constabularies and other local partners to deliver the coaching and
competition programme in areas lacking existing clubs, facilities
and general opportunities to play cricket. For more details on
StreetChance visit www.streetchance.org