The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that more than £1m of funding will be made available to sports groups supporting young Londoners at risk of exclusion or getting involved in violence and criminal activity.
Bids are open now for the Mayor’s £1.1m Impact Partnership Fund, which will invest in projects that use sport to support young people at risk of getting involved in crime through creating employment and training opportunities.
Sadiq made the announcement at the inaugural meeting of his Serious Youth Violence Steering Group. The steering group consists of representatives from 20 organisations the Mayor has previously funded through his £45m Young Londoners Fund Sport Unites programme. Each of these organisations has also selected a young person involved in their prevention programme to join the group. The young people will have an equal seat at the table and will play a key role in coordinating the work of the group, as well as sharing their own insight and experiences of being at risk of getting involved in crime. The steering group is the first of its kind in the sport sector. It will bring together London community sports experts to help identify causes, share best practice, and propose solutions to serious youth violence.
The work undertaken today forms part of the Mayor’s package of measures tackling the scourge of youth violence in the capital. Earlier this month he announced £360,000 of investment from his Young Londoners Fund for 43 projects taking place during the summer holidays and providing positive opportunities for 3,500 young people at risk of getting involved in crime. Half of the projects supported by this investment are taking place in the wards in the top 10 per cent for rates of serious youth violence. These activities follow the £20.5m Sadiq has already invested from his £45m Young Londoners Fund – which was launched in March 2018 – in activities that are now benefitting 66,000 young Londoners. Details of projects running over the summer holidays and available across every borough can be found on City Hall’s interactive online map at https://www.london.gov.uk/our-london.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I have seen first-hand the unique power of sport to engage young people and help them to turn their lives around.
“The organisations that I have brought together today are already making a huge difference to the lives of thousands of young people in our city, which is why I am providing a further £1.1m of funding to help even more sports projects provide positive, meaningful activities to help young people make the right choices in life.
“Serious violent incidents involving young Londoners is down by nearly 20 per cent compared to last year, but we cannot be complacent. We know that to tackle violent crime, we must be tough on the causes of crime. I am doing all that I can on this from City Hall, but we urgently need Government to reverse cuts to youth clubs, schools and local services – or risk failing a generation.”
For more information on the Impact Partnership Fund and to apply, please visit:https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/sports/sport-unites/ylf-impact-partnerships-fund#acc-i-58069
