The Foundation delivers a pioneering project across Greater Essex that, for the first time, brings together the criminal justice system and the community sport and mentoring sector. This collaborative approach uses sport programmes, delivered in a quality-assured manner, to provide both preventative and intervention-focused support aimed at reducing young people’s involvement in the criminal justice system and their vulnerability to criminal exploitation, youth crime, and violence.
The project works in partnership with statutory agencies including the Police, Youth Justice Service, Probation, Health, and Education, alongside voluntary sector organisations. These agencies are connected with a network of over 80 trusted, locally based specialist community sport and activity providers, known as Locally Trusted Organisations (LTOs).
The Sport and Youth Crime Prevention Project offers a comprehensive programme of training and ongoing support to upskill LTOs. This enables them to effectively engage with and support young people at risk of anti-social behaviour, exploitation, gang involvement, county lines activity, knife crime, or those already involved in youth criminality.
Now embedded within statutory agency teams, the Active Essex Foundation receive referrals and match young people with appropriate local provision through the Sports and Life Skills Programme. Crucially, the project works in close collaboration with the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit to reduce serious youth violence, and with Community Safety Partnerships to address anti-social behaviour and youth crime.
