Power of football unleashed to tackle ASB in Spennymoor
Youngsters in Spennymoor now have more reason to take up football thanks to free sessions jointly funded by Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen.
The County Durham and Darlington PCC is working in partnership with the force, Spennymoor Town Football Club and Livin Housing Association to tackle public concerns about anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the town centre, contributing £5k to a £20k project to increase accessibility to the big game in the town.
The project, led by Spennymoor Town FC, is targeted at young people aged seven to 16 and aims to fill existing gaps in provision afterschool and in the evenings to help divert young people from engaging in ASB.
Concerns were raised recently during a multiagency walkaround in the town centre, with civic leaders explaining the negative impact of problems on people’s confidence and feelings of safety which had made shopping visits uncomfortable.
The force developed a Problem-Solving Orientated Policing (POP) plan to tackle the issues at source. This approach sees partners homing in on specific community problems and providing the tools and funds a community needs to solve them.
The Commissioner invests tens of thousands of pounds in POP plans throughout the year as part of her mission to make communities safer, stronger and more resilient to ASB, consistently highlighted by the public as a concern, and alcohol and drug-fuelled crime.
Following an evaluation process of local youth provision in Spennymoor, partners were able to identify the barriers preventing young people from participating in local sports and youth activities including cost, accessibility issues and lack of awareness about the clubs and activities on offer.
As a result of the joint funding, new sports equipment has been purchased and a sports pitch hired to provide regular free football sessions by a sports coach for local youths.
In addition, Moors in the Community, the official charity and outreach foundation run by Spennymoor Town FC, is contributing significant in-kind support via the National League programme while the football club itself has offered to provide administrative support including data collection and social media awareness to support the project.
Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen said: “Sport, particularly football, is a powerful medium for helping young people to overcome the barriers that prevent them from achieving their full potential whether this is low confidence and self-esteem, lack of positive role models and even boredom.
“This resource is strongly needed in the area and provides a practical solution to keeping young people focused, healthy and building camaraderie and a sense of belonging.
“We’ve worked closely with the community in Spennymoor in the development of other youth facilities in the area and we know this additional provision is warmly welcomed. This project shows we are listening and continuing to address the root causes of the issues affecting people’s lives in our efforts to make positive changes for the benefit of all residents. I really value the relationships we are building with residents, businesses and our partners, and this project is testament to our commitment to working together.”
Tackling ASB is a key commitment in the PCC’s Police, Crime and Justice Plan, with the Commissioner setting out a series of promises to bring redress to communities and prevent young people from being drawn into crime and ASB. This includes a promise to fund positive, affordable and accessible diversionary activities and working with social care and other partners to target and support those at risk of falling out of education.
