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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| Give youth clubs money for sport | Give youth clubs money for sport |
| (4 months later) | |
| Owen Gibson (Fears over sporting legacy, 27 December) highlights the strategic challenges in turning the intense interest in sport generated by the Olympics into tangible outcomes. The choice of where to invest – between schools, elite sports provision or specialist clubs – is one that no one yet seems satisfactorily to have grasped. But if the aim is to ensure that more young people are able to participate in sport, then perhaps the answer may be on our doorsteps. | Owen Gibson (Fears over sporting legacy, 27 December) highlights the strategic challenges in turning the intense interest in sport generated by the Olympics into tangible outcomes. The choice of where to invest – between schools, elite sports provision or specialist clubs – is one that no one yet seems satisfactorily to have grasped. But if the aim is to ensure that more young people are able to participate in sport, then perhaps the answer may be on our doorsteps. |
| Community-based youth clubs give thousands of young people the opportunity to enjoy sport, often for the first time, in a setting in which they feel safe and comfortable. In London, since 2009, almost 6,000 young people, most of whom had previously not engaged in sport at all, have taken part in structured sessions in one of London Youth's 400 member clubs, giving them access to specialist coaching in any one of more than 30 sports, as well as the chance to gain coaching qualifications. Some of these young people will progress to elite sport: Britain's judo silver medallist, Gemma Gibbons, started off in the community-based Metro Judo Club in Charlton. | Community-based youth clubs give thousands of young people the opportunity to enjoy sport, often for the first time, in a setting in which they feel safe and comfortable. In London, since 2009, almost 6,000 young people, most of whom had previously not engaged in sport at all, have taken part in structured sessions in one of London Youth's 400 member clubs, giving them access to specialist coaching in any one of more than 30 sports, as well as the chance to gain coaching qualifications. Some of these young people will progress to elite sport: Britain's judo silver medallist, Gemma Gibbons, started off in the community-based Metro Judo Club in Charlton. |
| But for far more of the young people who participate in these programmes, their progress can be measured in terms of their health, self-confidence and re-engagement in school and the wider community. A group of young Muslim women in Tower Hamlets are now running their own non-contact boxing sessions at their local youth club, helping other girls to gain confidence and fitness in ways they wouldn't have thought possible previously. | But for far more of the young people who participate in these programmes, their progress can be measured in terms of their health, self-confidence and re-engagement in school and the wider community. A group of young Muslim women in Tower Hamlets are now running their own non-contact boxing sessions at their local youth club, helping other girls to gain confidence and fitness in ways they wouldn't have thought possible previously. |
| Gibson highlights how local authority sports funding has been cut. The situation is the same for youth services, meaning many clubs now struggle on from one week to the next uncertain of long-term funding. Perhaps the best legacy from London 2012 would be a real commitment, locally and nationally, to fund sports provision in community youth centres, so that all young people have the chance to enjoy the benefits that sport and exercise can bring. Rosie Ferguson Chief executive, London Youth | Gibson highlights how local authority sports funding has been cut. The situation is the same for youth services, meaning many clubs now struggle on from one week to the next uncertain of long-term funding. Perhaps the best legacy from London 2012 would be a real commitment, locally and nationally, to fund sports provision in community youth centres, so that all young people have the chance to enjoy the benefits that sport and exercise can bring. Rosie Ferguson Chief executive, London Youth |
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