What is bransbury park?
Bransbury Park is located in the Milton ward of Portsmouth and has a total population of 13,166 of which approximately 13% are aged 10-19 years old. The area surrounding Bransbury Park has well documented youth crime problem with rates above the city average. Milton is located in the top 20% of the IMD ratings and has a high rate of unemployment amongst economically active people aged 16-74.
Background
The site is just 1 mile from the home of Portsmouth FC, Fratton Park and the project was created in close consultation between Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth FC Community Department. A community consultation exercise took place amongst local residents, the local community association and the police and the developments received outstanding support for the improvements to the park.
Previous to the investment from Barclays Spaces for Sports the outdoor areas of Bransbury Park were in poor condition with the sports areas in desperate need of refurbishment. Areas of the site were derelict and unsafe and use of the site was limited, particularly during the winter months due to a lack of floodlighting.
Developing activity and skills
The Start Up Sport Scheme has set itself the following targets until September 2009;
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Establish the new club in order to allow the participants of the Saturday morning session to compete in local leagues
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Make a DVD capturing the process of ‘How we set our boys club’
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Establish a third junior girls team
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Deliver the Community Sports Leaders Award to targeted NEET youngsters looking to become coaches.
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Maintain the consistently high attendances at the site
Impact to date
Start Up Sport Statistics
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354 children have attended SUS since it’s conception
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250 boys
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104 girls
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Average of 25 children for 5-7 year old sessions
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Average of 15 for 8-11 sessions
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Attendances of between 70-80 children per week
A 26% fall in youth crime has been recorded in the Milton/ Eastney area with specific figures recorded around the Bransbury Park being the same as percentage fall in overall area of communities. This figure is reported from January 2007 to February 2009.
User experiences - martyn's story
Martyn started with the Respect Programme in mid 2007 when he was 19 years old, living with his parents. Martyn is at an age where he can legally drink alcohol and likes to socialise on a regular basis. Martyn was NEET when he first approached the programme. He had gained a sports Diploma and FA Football level 1 at College and was looking for voluntary work to gain some experience. In 16 months Martyn has come a long way and showed that he is committed, reliable, trustworthy worker with potential to become a full time member of staff. At first Martyn assisted other coaches but has shown great potential and now progressed and developed his skills into leading sessions. Martyn is now in paid employment on the Kickz Project and Up- Front project on a casual basis. Martyn has supported sessions delivered at the Bransbury Park site for Hockey, Basketball and Football. He has also undertaken workforce training and other accredited coaching badges to improve skills and add to his portfolio. These include ABA Boxing tutor course and FA level 2. Martyn has also attended the Conflict Resolution Training, Intro to Youth work and SPRS training and hopes that this training will help towards gaining employment with Portsmouth FC.
