Project:
Nacro Braintree Community Sports Project (East and South East)
Grant amount
£110,242
website
www.nacrobcsp.btik.com
project summary
The Nacro Braintree Community Sports Project (BCSP) is a crime reduction charity that is a partnership between Nacro and Braintree District Council.
The project covers the district of Braintree, which is a sparsely populated and rural area. The main focus of the project’s work are within areas of deprivation where incidents of youth nuisance and crime are particularly high. The project’s aim is to develop football and sports based sessions that provide a diversionary activity away from anti social behaviour.
The role of the BCSP is to use the power of sport as a means of engaging young people into a positive environment away from anti social behaviour and address issues of self-esteem, self confidence and feelings of self-worth.
Within this environment the young people are engaged in sporting activity that require skills of team work, communication, responsibility and an inner desire to succeed that are transferable skills needed to succeed in life as well as having benefits around personal health and fitness. A number of issues can arise which affect young people and the project looks to address these through informal education via partner agencies e.g. EYPDAS (Essex Young Person Drug and Alcohol Service), Youth Service, Connexions, Schools, YOT (Youth Offending Team) and through volunteers.
A key part of sessions are the volunteers from the community. The volunteers act as representatives of the project and are an integral part in how the project is run. Although with any new session a full time member of staff from the project will be in attendance the progression is to then allow the volunteers to lead the session to take an active role in developing their local community. This also allows for positive relationships to develop between young people and members of the community involving trust and respect from both sides. In return volunteers are provided with a training programme that includes child protection, first aid qualification, drug and alcohol awareness training and a sports coaching qualification. As well as this the volunteers are given support and supervision through regular meetings that take place with project staff.
what was the grant spent on?
What are the long term benefits of the project on the community?
Young people are given the opportunity to engage in sports that may not be on offer due to travel or financial resections as well as reducing anti social behaviour and petty crime through the power of sport.
Tell us about the positive affect on individuals
A Nacro volunteer from Braintree, Essex has been given a special award in recognition of his commitment to helping young people in his community. Mark Shaw (22) has been given the Chairman’s Special Award at Braintree District Council’s Community Achievement Awards.
Mark has been volunteering for Nacro Braintree Community Sports project for four years and is working towards getting an accredited coaching qualification. The project uses football to engage with young people and steer them away from crime and antisocial behaviour.
Mark had an unsettled childhood and struggled at school due to learning difficulties. He was taken into foster care at the age of 15, and left school with hardly any qualifications.
He says: “I wanted to volunteer because I didn’t just want to be sitting in the house all day, wasting my time. I was quite shy at first, but the staff at Nacro helped build my confidence. I do four days a week now and I love volunteering because I’ve met lots of new people and it makes me feel better about myself. When I found out I’d won the award I was shocked. To get something like this is completely beyond what I ever expected for myself.”
How has the Foundation's funding made a significant positive difference?
Statistics taken from 2010:
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The project has engaged 38 volunteers, all of which have gained accredited sports qualifications, experience and developed self confidence.
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10 volunteers have gained part time or full time employment as a result.
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During the period of May 2010, a total on 698 hours volunteering time was given to the community through volunteers on the project.
quotes
Name: James Martin
Position: Project Coordinator
“ I have been involved with the Nacro Braintree Community Sports Project since the early beginnings 11 years ago and am amazed how sport can be used to facilitate greater social change within the community. "
Name: Daniel, 16
Position: Participant
"Nacro has helped me to realise the right way of life and has kept me away from causing problems in my area!"
