The Centre for Social Justice has launched a new research project, in partnership with the Nick Maughan Foundation, exploring the role sport and physical activity can play in supporting young people at risk of crime and antisocial behaviour.
New polling from the Centre for Social Justice reveals that 58% of parents have experienced youth antisocial behaviour in their local area, with 44% having experienced it in the last 12 months.
Parents are also concerned for their children’s safety, with 45% of parents reporting that their child or children have been victims of antisocial behaviour. Harassment by another young person was the most common form of antisocial behaviour making up 28% of the total.
Young people from lower income households were twice as likely to be assaulted compared to their better off peers. Concerns about youth violence and antisocial behaviour were highest among parents in London, with almost 8 in 10 (77%) ‘very concerned’ or ‘quite concerned’.
Though rare, teenage homicide in London reached it deadliest peak in 2021, with 30 teens murdered in the capital.1 While overall crime is on a downward trend for 10-17 year olds, violent crime has been steadily increasing as a proportion of overall offences over the last ten years. It now accounts for 32% of all youth offending.2
As violent crime has increased, investment in youth services has decreased substantially over the same period. According to a report by the YMCA, there has been a 70% real-term decline in local authority expenditure on youth services between 2010 and 2018/19. Since 2010, more than 4,500 youth work jobs have been cut and 760 youth centres have been closed.3
Parents have not failed to notice. According to our poll, 8 in 10 parents believe that cuts to youth centres have led to an increase in antisocial behaviour and crime. The reasons that lie behind youth offending and crime are complex and encompass a wide range of social, economic and systemic factors. Nevertheless, the demise of the youth infrastructure sector and the increasing lack of access to safe spaces for young people to find support, learn new skills and socialise with their peers has certainly not helped.
Our polling revealed that only a third of parents think that young people have enough opportunities locally (e.g. sports clubs) to keep them busy and out of trouble. Indeed, 9 in 10 parents believe that local clubs offering extra-curricular sport and physical activity are important ways to reduce youth crime and antisocial behaviour.
The research is clear that sport offers a compelling ‘hook’ through which to engage some of our most vulnerable young people, offering positive pathways back into education, employment or training.
The CSJ is launching a call for evidence to explore how sports clubs, youth centres, third sector organisations and local statutory services are supporting vulnerable young people through sport.
That explains why, one cold, rainy Monday evening I found myself heading to Birmingham with Scott, the Operations Director at Boxwise to visit one of their long-running youth sport projects.
Boxwise is an incredible charity that runs more than 45 programmes nationally and internationally that deliver a ten-week values-led boxing programme to some of the most disadvantaged young people. In the UK, the programme runs through England-affiliated boxing gyms with qualified coaches and small, bespoke groups of 10-15 young people. The young people are also provided with nutritious, fresh meals after each session. For some, it’s the only healthy food they’ll eat that week.
The Pat Benson Boxing Academy in Birmingham, where 27.6% of children live in income deprived households, is a Boxwise delivery partner4. The area struggles with gang violence, and, as owner Paddy Benson tells us, is seeing increasingly younger children caught in the crossfire. Their latest cohort of young people were graduating that evening, and coach Brad Savage could not have been prouder.
Adam*, one of the graduating class, explained to me how the Boxwise programme kept him on the straight and narrow – giving him a safe place to go and friends that have become family. He attends college during the day and trains at the gym five evenings a week. Such is his natural aptitude for boxing that Boxwise have supported him to volunteer at regional fights, and, in January, will be sponsoring him to do a Level 1 coaching qualification.
At Boxwise, however, it’s not all about the boxing. As Scott explains to me, their vision is to provide the same love, care and support for the young people on their programmes that they would want shown to their own children if they were no longer around. And it shows. Boxing is the hook, but the coaches and wider team are passionate about what comes next. Their programmes are split between under 18s and over 18s, with each geared to practical next steps. For the under 18s, it’s keeping them engaged in education, for the over 18s, its pathways into employment and life skills.
As we make the long drive back to London and Scott regales me with stories from his time working with young people, I’m no longer struck by the enormity of the challenges the young people face, but the sheer passion and dedication of people like Scott and others to see that narrative turned upside down.
Click here for the call for evidence – Deadline: 15 March 2023