The recent Progress meeting, ‘Can British sport defeat youth crime?’, tackled a subject dear to my heart after 22 years of policing and dealing with antisocial behaviour in a number of towns in both Wiltshire and Cornwall. During the discussion we heard about several projects that have proved how effective this approach to reducing ASB can be. The positive impact that engaging young people through sport can have was clear, with many contributors passionately committed to further developing this approach and this would have been clear to the culture secretary, James Purnell, who was also present.
For my part, three years ago I was asked to police a ‘dispersal area’ in my local town of Bude. Reports of antisocial behaviour from young people led to their exclusion from a particular patch in the town. Unsurprisingly, the young people felt demonised by this, sensing that they were not really wanted and were certainly not being recognised for any positive work that they were doing locally.
When you think about it, how often do we read positive headlines about young people? More often than not these are buried in the inside pages, if recognised at all.
Bude is in a fantastic position with glorious beaches and numerous sporting facilities, but it became apparent that a significant number of young people were not accessing these or benefiting from them. As a result we established CATS (Community Action Through Sport) a partnership, designed to promote and reward positive community activity by young people through the presentation of sporting awards. These are offered on three different levels, reflecting the contribution made by the individual and include swimming, surfing, climbing and mountain-boarding – all easily accessible within the area and donated by local providers.
It is designed to encourage young people to engage positively with the wider community and recognise the part they have to play in the present and future development of the area. It recognises the activities of all young people – rather than focusing on specific groups, and this has proved a very positive step, especially for traditionally ‘low achievers’, who share the same stage as ‘high achievers’.
Since its launch in 2005 over 1000 CATS awards have been presented to local young people who have undertaken a number of community enhancing activities ranging from beach cleaning and running holiday activities through to designing and planting a sensory border for a local unit for children with special needs as well as refurbishing rundown areas with youth shelters and bus stops.
The scheme has grown considerably and the impact is now being seen across the area, with Bude being the only town in North Cornwall where antisocial behviour is not in the top three policing priorities for local people. It now forms part of Cornwall’s local area agreement with central government and is being developed more widely across the area.
In addition our PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) will be trained in sports leadership and will be provided with equipment that they will be able to use to engage with young people in alternative settings. There is a particular emphasis on football, basketball, ultimate Frisbee and other sports particularly popular with young people. This will help PCSOs to build positive relationships with young people that may result in them being diverted from engaging in ASB.
In a time when there is considerable emphasis on the need to promote positive community role models for young people and to develop citizenship, there is a pressing need to look for innovative ways to engage with young people. Using sport as a mechanism for doing this not only provides an alternative activity, but also helps to promote positive lifestyle choices. Surely this is an area worthy of further investigation and investment.