The Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit and StreetGames hosted ‘Violence Reduction Through the Power of Community Sport’ on Friday 21st April 2023. The event brought together approximately 80 people from across the community sport, local government, and youth justice sector to discuss the launch of the GM VRU Strategic Sports Plan.

StreetGames is one of the UK’s leading ‘sport for development’ charities – changing lives and transforming communities through the power of sport. Read more about GM VRU’s partnership with StreetGames: https://gmvru.co.uk/initiative/streetgames/

The Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, Kate Green and the VRU’s Director, Damian Dallimore spoke at the event and praised the work the sector is already doing to tackle youth violence, encouraging them to support the strategy’s vision and work together to do more. The event was not just about discussing the plan but also about taking action, with an announcement being made regarding the availability of £300k funding over the next two years through the VRU to support projects administered by StreetGames.

In addition to funding, the GM Community Sport Audit Tool was launched: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/f2cc3679708b474ab72bc29c1811d1d0

The tool is designed to help commissioners and providers understand what provision is like in their area, identify gaps, and help shape future delivery of sports. The launch of the tool was a significant step towards achieving the three visions outlined in the GM VRU Strategic Sports Plan.

The event also featured three case studies that showcased some of the work being done already to support the three visions;

• More sport in more places – Grow the number of high-quality sport provisions in Greater Manchester’s most deprived and vulnerable communities which contribute to the prevention of violence
• More workforce with more competencies – Enhance the confidence, competence and capacity of the sport workforce to ensure high quality delivery which is pro-social in its approach and embeds the principles of trauma informed practice
• More vulnerable young people referred, engaged and retained in community sport – Increase the number of vulnerable/at risk young people meaningfully, and successfully, referred into sport through evidence-based, multi-agency referral pathways

These case studies included Bolton Violence Reduction, Wigan Athletic Community Trust, and We Move.

Moving forward, through the delivery of this strategy, the VRU will continue to support the community sport sector across Greater Manchester to grow and evidence the vital role it can play in reducing serious youth violence.

Article posted on: 15/05/2023 11:05am