Sport to be used to lead young people away from serious violent crime

Giving young people access to sport in serious violent hotspots is one of the ways the government wants to tackle youth crime.

As part of the Prime Minister’s Serious Youth Violence Summit to tackle knife crime, ministers, sports bodies, charities and creative organisations discussed ways that sport can help tackle violet youth crime.

Sport England, which invests more than £10 million in projects that use sport to support crime reduction, has also pledged to increase investment in sport and physical activity for children in hot spot areas. This will include increasing the number of sports ‘satellite’ clubs, which are held after school and at weekends for 14 to 19-year-olds and aim to bridge the gap between school, college and community sport. A total of 10,000 satellite clubs have been established in England, helping over half a million young people to get active.

The Premier League said it will work in partnership with Government to increase one of its flagship community programmes, Premier League Kicks. Currently reaching 75,000 participants a year, the programme uses football to inspire young people to develop their potential and build stronger, safer communities.

Government will also work with a range of sports’ organisations including basketball, boxing and cycling and community-based sports charities to see what more they can do to use sport to engage young people in hard to reach areas.

Jeremy Wright, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Sport has the power to reach and connect people of all ages and backgrounds.

“We want to harness that power to encourage young people to choose positive activities that build confidence and key skills, rather than turn to crime and violence.

“Sports bodies already do excellent work in the community and we will work with the sector to expand sporting opportunities in youth crime hot spots to reach as many young people as possible.”