The North London and North Southwark Sport Action Zone has won
the
2009 BBC Power of Sport Award, supported by Sport England, for
London.
The North Lambeth and North Southwark Sport Action Zone (SAZ)
was originally set up as part of the nationwide Sport Action Zone
initiative, with the ultimate aim of increasing sports
participation in their deprived communities. Through sport and
physical activity, the project has addressed other problems
including multiple deprivation, poor public health, low levels of
educational achievement and a lack of social cohesion.
The aims of the SAZ are to:
- Increase participation in sport and physical activity
- To use sport to address issues of community safety, health,
education, regeneration and employment
- Increase the capacity of sports clubs in the voluntary
sector.
The SAZ began by tackling the lack of facilities in the area by
offering a range of sports and physical activities at schools, on
estates and in community venues. It continued beyond its
originally-intended lifespan, and since 2005 has been operating out
of a formerly closed school. The site has now been transformed into
the Lilian Baylis Community Hub which is one of the best examples
of a community sports hub in the country.
The Lilian Baylis Community Hub facilitates sports programmes
all year round and offers football, basketball, dance, athletics
and tennis. They have also piloted a portable swimming pool scheme
with the Amateur Swimming Association and offer vocational training
to young people whilst providing a venue for local groups and
schools to use for their own activities and events.
The SAZ has given the local community free access to sports
facilities and activities that did not exist before. Great examples
of their work include girls & boys football sessions, senior
citizen exercise classes, the creation of a local basketball league
consisting over 25 schools, plus a Street Dance programme via
schools and community groups.
The future of the SAZ looks very exciting; they are working with
London Borough of Lambeth to secure a long lease on the school site
to enable further investment into it and to help them to open it up
to more local partners. In addition to this, the SAZ is
establishing the first Sport for Social Change Network in Europe –
following the leading examples set in Brazil and Kenya. This is
seen as integral to sport achieving real social change. Nike wishes
to appoint the SAZ to lead the London network.
Arron Miller is a fantastic demonstration of the effect the SAZ
is having. He was originally referred to them from the Youth
Offenders Service. He enrolled on one of their training programmes
and undertook sports coaching and youth work training courses. This
has since changed his life around. He began his new career as a
volunteer and then got a job delivering peer mentoring and coaching
sessions for a number of organisations. He has now landed his dream
job running a London-wide peer mentoring ambassadors’ programme for
the Home Office.
To find out more about the project, visit their website