Levelling the Playing Field has partnered with prison education provider Novus to offer sport and physical activity opportunities to children in custody and after their release.
The partnership will see specially selected, trained and experienced sports organisations work with residents in HMYOI Cookham Wood in Kent, HMYOI Werrington in Staffordshire and HMYOI Wetherby, West Yorkshire, with potential for expansion into further secure settings.
They will offer coaching and support that is learner-centred (i.e. based on young people’s feedback on the types of sport and activities they want to take part in). On release, young people will then be linked up with Levelling the Playing Field sessions in their area and/or be able to attend sessions run by the same trusted sport providers externally that they worked with whilst in custody.
This through-the-gate support will play an important part in young people’s resettlement back into the community, giving them access to sport and physical activity, mentoring support, helping to divert them from negative peer influences and enabling them to form (or continue) relationships with trusted adult role models.
Sports Connect will deliver the programme in HMYOI Cookham Wood (with their delivery fronted by former Team GB sprinter Marilyn Okoro), Climb Unity will be the partner in HMYOI Wetherby and Sale Sharks Community have come on board to begin a new programme inside HMYOI Werrington.
As well as its many benefits for young people, the partnership has already had a positive impact on the partners themselves.
“The project has fostered collaboration between education, gym and healthcare departments of the different secure establishments who are involved,” said Novus Sport and Enrichment Coordinator, James Thomas. “They have all started sharing best practice and discussing what works and what doesn’t, which is extremely positive.
“The community links provided by Levelling the Playing Field across the country are amazing for us. Setting up community resettlement plans is often difficult when young people are leaving one prison and returning to a different area of the country. With access to Levelling the Playing Field’s network, that job becomes much easier.
“It also enables us to incorporate young people’s passions around sport and physical activity into their resettlement plans. We can start to look more carefully at linking them up with community clubs and organisations alongside education and employment opportunities, to give them a more holistic package of support which decreases the likelihood of reoffending.
“Put that together with the training and mentoring opportunities that Levelling the Playing Field provide and this partnership is rich with potential. We are looking forward to developing the relationship in the future and to the many benefits it will offer our learners in the Secure Estate and post-release.”
Rudro Sen, Levelling the Playing Field Project Manager, said: “This exciting network of partnerships we’re building with Novus, youth justice settings and specialist sport providers will greatly help young people making that transition from secure establishments back into the community. We know how crucial this kind of support is in keeping former secure estate residents on a positive path.”