What is Positive Futures?
Positive Futures is a partnership between Sport England, the Home Office and the Youth Justice Board. The Football Foundation and other governing bodies of sport also support the initiative.
The aim is to use sport to reduce anti-social behaviour, crime and drug misuse amongst 10-16 year olds within local neighbourhoods. The intended outcomes are:
- A reduction in youth offending in the locality of the project;
- A reduction in drug misuse amongst the 10-16 year olds participating in the project;
- An increase in regular participation in sport and physical activity by 10-16 year olds.
Why Sport?
Sport and recreation play an important part in tackling a range of social exclusion problems. Sport provides an opportunity to engage young people in a positive alternative to ‘hanging around’ and the drug misuse culture by promoting healthy, drug-free lifestyles and by providing leadership and training opportunities.
What do local projects involve?
Different approaches are used to engage vulnerable young people into sport. Local programmes include:
- Outreach and detached work to contact young people at risk of exclusion;
- Coaching skills across a range of sports;
- Mentoring, using sport as a focus;
- Curriculum and extra curricular activity in schools; and
- Leadership skills based around sports.
Click here to see details of local projects in Suffolk.
How are projects funded?
Much of the funding is from Home Office core funding. The Recovered Assets
Fund (money seized from drug dealers and traffickers), Sport England and Positive
Futures local partnership also contribute to the funding. The Football Foundation
has a separate funding programme for football projects.