Meeting discusses sports activities for young people
A new group met for the first time last week to discuss a number of Shropshire-based initiatives to encourage young people to get involved in sport and keep away from crime.
The group, which includes the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, Shropshire Council, Telford & Wrekin Council, Energize County Sports Partnership and Olympic legacy charity Sported, was set up last year so that grant applications made for sports related activities to the Commissioner’s Grant Scheme and information from other partners could be shared, ensuring that further opportunities for funding or promotion could be identified.
On the agenda were eight initiatives, many of which were identified by the Bronze Tasking group – a partnership which includes the Police and council who work together to address issues within communities.
These initiatives, which aim to encourage groups of young people to get involved in sport in their area, were discussed in detail and various lead officers were tasked with taking them forward.
Barrie Sheldon, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, said:
“Bill and I recognise the importance of sport in channelling young peoples’ energy and we have already awarded funding to many sports related activities and organisations across the West Mercia area.
“I am pleased that we are now sharing the information we have so that we can all use our available funding and resources more effectively to support valuable community sport.”
Chris Child, Chief Executive of Energize, added:
“We identified some important projects that in the past may have struggled to get any kind of joined up support. Through this co-operative approach I am hopeful that we’ll see some new and exciting sporting opportunities emerge across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.”
The next meeting will take place in April 2014.
