ESSEX SPORT AND YOUTH CRIME PREVENTION PROJECT
Delivering ground-breaking new sport and youth crime project across Essex.
This project establishes the Foundation as the lead organisation in Essex for using sport to prevent youth crime and violence.
The Foundation delivers a first of its kind project in Essex, which brings together the criminal justice system and the community sport system to work together to use sport in a quality assured way, to prevent young people from being exploited and becoming involved in youth crime and violence. The project works with statutory agencies including the Police, Youth Offending Service, Probation along with the voluntary sector, linking them with over 65 trusted, locally based specialist community sport and activity providers.
It also has workers embedded within statutory agency teams, taking referrals and matching them with provisions that are right for them. Importantly, the project works closely with the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit to assist in their efforts to reduce serious youth violence.
The foundation links the Sport and Youth Crime Prevention project work to the 10 principles: Using sport to enhance positive outcomes for young people in the context of serious youth violence: A theory of change
Currently, over 64,000 children and young people are living in poverty throughout our county and anti-social behaviour is by far the highest rated crime across Essex, which is significantly above the country’s average.
The project will initially focus on the high youth crime and violence areas of Basildon, Chelmsford, Southend, Thurrock, Harlow, Colchester, Clacton, and Canvey Island.
The long-term plan is to ensure that the Essex criminal justice system is using sport regularly to prevent youth crime and violence, and that the Foundation network of over 100 locally trusted organisations is delivering the sport to a high quality.
2023-24 Report
Dive into the work undertaken throughout 2023-24 to understand how the project has progressed.
Theory of Change
Read about the how sport can be used to enhance positive outcomes for young people in the context of serious youth violence.