Victim of their own Success
For many months Alleynes Sports Centre has been the venue for Sport and Chill, a Friday evening event for 10 to 15 year olds who can spend three hours using the sports facilities or just ‘chilling out’. It has been so successful that an average of 220 youngsters turn up each Friday - and that has raised some issues which we tried to address at a meeting of stakeholder partners this afternoon.
The first issue is one of staffing levels. Because of the numbers involved, Stafford Borough Couincil are at the limit of their resources - so it was decided to approach the County Council’s Youth Service to see whether they could offer some assistance in supervising some of the activities.
And whilst there have been very few problems with the kids inside the Sports Hall, inevitably there have been a few issues involving older youths who hang around outside and in the local area. Thankfully, our Specials and PCSO’s were represented at the meeting and I’m in no doubt they will be around on a regular basis to keep an eye on things.
One thing is crystal clear. The Sport and Chill sessions have already had a significant effect upon Friday night problems. It was reported that incidents in Westbridge Park and Stonefield Park on a Friday night had decreased considerably and taking a couple of hundred youngsters off the streets of the town for three hours can only have a beneficial effect.
So the issues must be resolved so that Sport and Chill can continue unhindered.
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