Grant of £1m to improve outcomes of BAME children

THE Alliance of Sport, with support from the Youth Justice Board (YJB), has secured a £1 million grant from the London Marathon Charitable Trust.

The project will take place over the next three years and will use sport to improve the health and life outcomes for more than 11,200 black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) children aged 10-17.

With additional matched funding and in-kind resources, the total fund reaches £1.7m.

This grant will be used to deliver the new ‘Levelling the Playing Field’ project and is the largest grant awarded by the London Marathon Charitable Trust.

It is also the first criminal justice grant they have awarded.

The initiative will focus on BAME children who are at risk of entering, or who are already disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, and will provide them with support and opportunities in sport and physical activity.

The project has adopted a health model and is tiered.

The target delivery areas are in London, the West Midlands, South Yorkshire and Gwent.

Keith Fraser, YJB Board member, said: “This grant from the Trust presents a significant opportunity to have a huge positive impact on the lives of many children. This initiative is building on the past work and entering new ground in a focused and evidenced way.”

Currently, the proportion of BAME children in the youth justice system is increasing.

To work on tackling this, the Levelling the Playing Field project aims to increase BAME participation in sport, advance youth justice policy to support a reduction in disproportionality in the youth justice system, foster more active partnerships between sport and criminal justice agencies, and develop an effective model that is fit for expansion across England and Wales.