To suggest social project spending cuts in Britain are to blame for the problems on the streets seen here over the past few days is at best inaccurate or, at worst, opportunistic and misleading.
Clearly countless contributing factors go toward social problems of this kind.
As difficult as accounting for all these factors might be, by looking at one at a time, some light may be shed on how society can stop this from happening both in the future and for the future.
This is why Laureus is passionate that governments should invest in social projects that focus on a country’s youth. For it is through such projects that children and young adults will learn the values that will turn them away from violence and anti social behaviour.
Laureus champions the use of sport as the unique and near universally engaging tool through which these goals can be achieved.
And a report Laureus published just a few months ago demonstrated how this belief is already showing itself to be true.
Before I show you the evidence the report offers, however, the anecdotal evidence proposed by our Academy Member Daley Thompson is convincing in itself, and not to mention pertinent considering the gang violence across England in recent days.
At the report’s release, Daley said:
“The key lies in the similarities between sport and gangs; both present a sense of belonging, status and excitement.”
For the benefit of my blog today I’ll look at two of the projects that the report looks in to: The Boxing Academy in Tottenham and the Kickz project in Elthorne Park; both of these are in London.
The Boxing Academy in Tottenham, for example, costs half as much as what is known as a ‘Pupil Referral Unit’ and has lower re-offending rates amongst the youngsters it works with.
The Boxing Academy in Tottenham, London was found to offer a £7 return for every £1 invested
A Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) is a centre for children who, through their behaviour, have been deemed unable to attend a mainstream or special school.
In addition to the project’s documented success over PRUs, the report also found that for every £1 invested in The Boxing Academy, society benefits from a return of £3. This comes from a higher average of future earnings for participants but also from reduced crime rates in the area too.
The Kickz project, however, can boast even more remarkable success from our report’s findings.
The Kickz project, which uses football to work with troubled youths, demonstrates an incredible £7 value for every £1 invested.
Quite simply, this means that if that £1 funding was to be cut from their budget, it would actually end up costing government a huge £6!
This is because, by cutting crime rates, the project helps save the costs to victims, costs to police and subsequently costs to the courts and prisons.
There are 75,000 new entrants into the youth criminal justice system each year. This ended up costing government a staggering £4 billion last year alone.
Laureus believes that maintaining funding in sports projects, such as those I’ve talked about here, can not only offer some of our most troubled youngsters a brighter future, but also significant financial return at a time when countries across the world are in such desperate need of it.
This is just a brief introduction to the report’s findings but you can have a look at the entire document at the Laureus website here.
Shakeela Bagus honoured with Fight for Peace Award
With Wimbledon starting yesterday, Martina gives her thoughts on this year’s favourites to win and how the english players will perform at Wimbledon.
Furthermore, in spite of her having treatment at the moment she is going to climb the Kilimanjaro in order to raise donations for the Laureus projects in Kenya.
1. Liverpool vs Manchester United
Liverpool get their title campaign back on track with a win against their most bitter of rivals in a dramatic 2-0 victory at Anfield. Goals from Fernando Torres and David Ngog seal the win for the Reds.
2. The NFL in London
The NFL returned to Wembley Stadium for the third time in three years as the New England Patriots destroyed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in front of nearly 90,000 fans.
3. Jensen Button – World Formula One Champion
Jensen Button sealed his first Formula One World Championship in Brazil after leading the Drivers Championship since the beginning of the year. The Brawn driver made it two wins in two years for British drivers after Lewis Hamilton’s win in 2008.
4. Valentino Rossi – World MotoGP Champion
Valentino Rossi won his seventh MotoGP World Championship in Malaysia with one race to spare. The Italian, who many consider the best to ever race motorbikes, finished the race in third place for the Yamaha team.
5. Barcelona lose to Rubin Kazan in Champions League
This week saw one of the biggest shocks ever to take place in the UEFA Champions League as European Champions Barcelona went down 2-1 at home to Rubin Kazan. The Russian Champions are taking place in their first ever Champions League and were virtual unknowns outside of Russia before this season.
The inaugural Laureus London-to-Paris Bike Ride begins tomorrow with Daley Thompson getting back on the bike to lead the peloton of cyclists across southern England en route to France. On the other side of the English Channel, they will be joined by five-time winner of the Tour de France Miguel Indurain, who will lead the ride at the end of the final day as it finishes at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees on September 26.
Funds raised from the event will be distributed to projects which tackle a range of issues such as social exclusion, gun and gang violence and conflict resolution.
Fingers crossed, there should be a video diary of the ride over the next few days…
