Villa & Bears Investing in Lozells & Handsworth Young People
I am proud to have pulled together a public, private and third sector partnership to support young people in my ward during the half-term break. I have been disappointed that professional sports clubs such as Aston Villa FC and Warwickshire County Cricket Club (County Champions 2012) have not invested in young people and the community in my ward of Lozells & East Handsworth as much as they should have. I challenged both highlighting the corporate and social responsibility they have.
Rising to the challenge, both Villa and the Bears have joined forces with two community organisations and Birmingham City Council to deliver an action-packed week of activities for young people in the ward. The partnership consists of the following:
- Aston Villa FC
- Warwickshire CCC
- Aspire & Succeed
- Birmingham City Council
- Perry Barr Community Sports Physical Activity Network (CSPAN)
- Birmingham Youth & Community Network.
The programme of activities being delivered this week is as follows:
- Monday – Visit to Villa Park to watch the Villa First Team train and meet the players
- Tuesday – Football Coaching delivered by Aston Villa
- Wednesday – A tour of Villa Park including the dressing room areas
- Thursday – Cricket Coaching delivered by Warwickshire County Cricket Club
- Saturday – Watch the Aston Villa v Norwich Premiership Game
The activities have not cost the young people anything with various partners donating resources including staff and venue hire to ensure that this partnership were able to deliver a project that was not too much of a burden on a single organisation.
During times of austerity, it is partnerships such as this, that will be able to support our communities. I hope we are able to expand on this work and have been in conversation with West Midlands Police to bring them on-board for future projects.
