Case Studies

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Since the start of London Community Sports Network, we have been working with community groups, voluntary sector and strategic bodies to develop a shared understanding of planning, managing and delivering sports programmes.

The following is a description of five exciting projects that have shared our journey so far, providing a glimpse of the range of organisations we work with, and the impact we have had.

Crusaders Cricket

Crusaders Cricket was formed by a group of enthusiasts driven by a love for playing and watching the sport. Crusaders Cricket began playing park cricket together in 2001 as a way of supporting each other to recover from alcohol and drug misuse. Members of Crusaders Cricket were brought together through the support agency Alcohol Recovery Project and via hostels in south London for men previously homeless. Many of the clients were keen to use park cricket as a way of spending social time with their families and children and for improving their physical and mental well being.

Fitzrovia Youth in Action

Fitzrovia Youth in Action was established by young adult activists, wanting to make improvements in their residential area off Tottenham Court Road. Fitzrovia Youth in Action is a relatively small registered charity, which aims to provide youth and community development and to promote racial harmony and improve community relations through sport, art and other inclusive activities with people living in the London Boroughs of Camden and Westminster. Fitzrovia Youth in Action aim to enable young people to play a full role in their own community and achieve their potential as individuals and active members in society.

London East Connexions Partnership

The London East Connexions Partnership (LECP) spans across the ten London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Greenwich, Hackney, Havering, Lewisham, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and the Corporation of London. LECP supports over 185,000 young people within their catchment area of which up to 10,000 currently fall within the category of not being in education, employment and training.

Sikh Community Care Project

The Sikh Community Care Partnership (SCCP) is a registered charity that provides health and social care services to the Sikh community based in and around the London borough of Waltham Forest. As a comparatively small organisation currently with one full time and two part time members of staff, SCCP delivers a strong range of services including advice and education on health issues, sport and physical recreation, lunch clubs and social events. The main service beneficiaries are elderly and middle-aged Sikh people, families and more recently young people from the Sikh community. In response to the growing demands of children, young people and their parents to develop a youth sports and leisure project, SCCP worked on an application to Sport England's Active Communities Development Fund (ACDF). SCCP contacted LCSN in December 2001 seeking advice and expertise on writing their bid. We built a close and trusting relationship with SCCP's Coordinator and became familiar with volunteers and users of the service. We also took on a role in advocating the project to strategic stakeholders, as we believed in the vision of the project and in the capacity of SCCP to deliver.

Sports Out Music In

Sports Out Music In (SOMI) established in 2002 as a registered charity with the aim of improving the lives and well-being of deprived children and young people living in the London boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham. SOMI's services include sports and physical recreation, arts and music and training and personal development. SOMI's main service is the extensive Bethwin South East Football Club, which delivers a unique non-ability based football programme for boys and girls and operates eighteen teams for 8- 21 year olds. SOMI are based at the small Bethwin Road Adventure Playground in the London borough of Southwark and deliver all of their football development as an outreach service.

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All Nations Summer League
WIDENING THE FOOTBALL FAMILY

Whilst most Londoners will have their eyes focussed on the World Cup games in South Africa this June, a few teams will be preparing for their own chance at glory in the All Nations Summer League. The players� skills, experience and wages may not equate with those of Messi, Drogba or Rooney, but their passion for the game and commitment to win will be world class. With FIFA catering for the elite players this summer the London Playing Fields Foundation will be providing competitive opportunities for grassroots teams.

LPFF launched its All Nations Football programme in 2001 to provide refugee and other disenfranchised groups in London with their first experience of playing football in an organised structure. A one day festival and eight week Summer League are provided free of charge for groups that demonstrate a commitment to developing their team. Over time the project has widened its remit to welcome participants from community groups who, for a number of reasons, have not been able to access mainstream affiliated football.

Two hundred teams from over one hundred different organisations have played in the one day tournaments and Summer Leagues, with many of them making the step up to mainstream affiliated competitions. In addition to the football competitions the project provides teams with the opportunity to access coaching and refereeing courses so that their team members can attain qualifications enabling them to secure voluntary positions or paid employment. During the past nine years ninety-four coaches and fifty-three referees have been funded to achieve their first qualification.

In order to assist teams to make the step up to affiliated football the London Communities Football League was established in 2004 with a league committee comprising team representatives and members of the project Steering Group. Ninety-seven teams have played over the seven seasons with seventy-three teams completing their full fixture list. The league plays its matches on Sunday afternoons at a central venue in Walthamstow.

Clapton Park Rangers is just one club that used the All Nations project to help establish itself in affiliated football. The club was formed by a number of Level 1 football coaches who formed the nucleus of the team with the objective of becoming a successful side and providing role models for local young people. They had no financial backing or experience of organised football but entered All Nations Summer League in 2006. At the end of the eight week competition the club decided to join the Hackney & Leyton Sunday League and they have subsequently developed a second team playing in The East London Sunday League and a successful Under 12 team. In 2008 the first team won the London Junior Cup and followed that by winning the London Intermediate Cup in 2009.

None of this would have been possible without the first step up provided by The All Nations Football programme. Mark Whyte, the manager and main organiser, said: �It was a brilliant introduction into organised football and the support was second to none. When we entered mainstream competitive football we were prepared as a consequence. The funding course really helped us get set up on a proper footing.�

The All Nations programme is currently recruiting teams for the Summer League 2010 which will commence on 12th July once the World champions have been crowned. If you would like to receive further information about the project or an application form please contact Jo McKenzie at LPFF on 020 7713 8684 or jo.mckenzie@lpff.org.uk.

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