Warren's story
I approached sported. because I
had decided something needed to be done to combat the lack of
opportunities in our community, especially for the young to
participate in activities together. There are a large number of
young people living in Princetown who aren't in education,
employment or training, and without any playing fields or organised
sport activities there isn't much for them to do. Plus without
decent transport, they also can't access any opportunities
elsewhere. It was estimated that 50% of the recorded street level
crimes in the area were for anti-social behaviour or criminal
damage, most likely due to boredom.
I had approached other agencies with the idea of setting up a
local football club - something the town hadn't had for 20 years.
None of them had supported me in getting it off the ground and even
though several agencies advised sported. against
getting involved, they matched me up with Mike, a Mentor with
considerable experience when it came to developing opportunities
for young people.
We decided the first step was to gauge support
levels for the project and held a consultation evening, with key
local partners. This result was an elected committee, 16
volunteers, and an actual football club. From that point onwards,
Mike met with us every week and produced an action plan for our new
club.
Initially, Mike's priority was to set us up with the appropriate
governance, policies and procedures. Focus then shifted to finding
somewhere to train and a league to compete in. Mike secured the
nearest facility and sported. provided the £500
needed to secure a place in a local league. Local young people
started training to be coaches, the community designed the team's
kit and the club was underway.
The second phase of our project was developing a local pitch. Mike
supported us with the planning, budgeting and funding, leading to
several successful bids for funding, including £12,000 from
sported. and £50,000 from Sport England to create
a local pitch in the centre of the town.
The club has truly brought the community together. The team
already draws 50-70 supporters to every home game, despite low car
ownership and poor public transport. In addition to creating a
diversionary activity and training young people, we've also brought
generations together - we ran the first fireworks display in the
town for 20 years, which attracted 500 people and raised over
£1,000. The team have made great improvements on the field too,
recently winning the first game since their initial 18-0
defeat!
As a result of all our success, Princetown won the Project of the
Year award at the Devon Sports Awards, and we were really excited
for Mike who was runner up for Volunteer of the Year at the same
event.
In the year in which this project has been running, crime and
anti-social behaviour in the town has also decreased by over
70%.