As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘Sport for Development Month’ in December, we hear from our specialist partners Street Soccer London on how they guide young players from the pitch towards progress in many different areas of their lives....

As part of our 'Leadership Month', Levelling the Playing Field was privileged to meet Neil Basu, Assistant Commissioner for Special Operations in the Metropolitan Police, and find out about the pleasures and pressures of holding such a senior role....

Maindee Primary School, situated in a hugely multicultural area of Newport, has connected with a web of local partners to positively impact ethnically diverse children in their care....

Levelling the Playing Field is delighted to offer CEOs, project leaders and key management staff in our network of specialist delivery partners the opportunity to take part in a bespoke leadership skills programme....

Levelling the Playing Field is delighted to offer CEOs, project leaders and key management staff in our network of specialist delivery partners the opportunity to take part in a bespoke leadership skills programme....

New apprentice Geri Leigh Branigan is proud to be guiding and supporting ethnically diverse children at InPower in Wolverhampton – because she knows herself how vital sport and role models can be....

New apprentice Geri Leigh Branigan is proud to be guiding and supporting ethnically diverse children at InPower in Wolverhampton – because she knows herself how vital sport and role models can be....

Levelling the Playing Field is delighted to offer CEOs, project leaders and key management staff in our network of specialist delivery partners the opportunity to take part in a bespoke leadership skills programme....

Levelling the Playing Field is delighted to offer CEOs, project leaders and key management staff in our network of specialist delivery partners the opportunity to take part in a bespoke leadership skills programme....

Levelling the Playing Field is linking up with GamCare to offer our specialist partners access to their Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention programme....

Sharks Community Trust are the latest partners to join Levelling the Playing Field to engage and support young people in custody and post-release through sport and physical activity....

Big Brother Burngreave, our LtPF specialist partners in Sheffield, have a unique approach to nurturing young leaders. As part of our 'Leadership Month, we met Tyrone and Tes to see how it's changed their lives....

As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘Leadership Month’ we are privileged to meet Neeco and Gulraj, two outstanding young leaders from our specialist partners InPower in Wolverhampton....

Levelling the Playing Field is linking up our local delivery partners in London with Centre of Change Project to provide specialist counselling and mentoring to their young people....

Aptitude Youth, our local delivery partners in Coventry, are training up 10 young people as qualified sports leaders using funding from Levelling the Playing Field....

Pro boxer Joe Maphosa has become an Ambassador for the Levelling the Playing Field project and the Alliance of Sport....

Levelling the Playing Field has partnered with the Youth Charter to offer the chance to enrol on their Social Coach Leadership Programme – initially for our specialist delivery partners in the West Midlands, then the rest of our network early in 2022....

Emmanuel joined our local delivery partners Aptitude Youth three years ago after arriving in Coventry from Ghana via Italy. He says the staff and his fellow beneficiaries have become “like a second family”....

For Ayathola, Sinokuhle, Keren, Chloe and Exaucee, attending Levelling the Playing Field sessions run by Young Minds Together in Rotherham is more than a weekly dance class; it’s a sisterhood that helps them overcome many barriers in life....

Former Olympic athlete Marilyn Okoro is to lead sport and physical activity sessions with young people in custody as part of a new Levelling the Playing Field partnership....

Tamsir Gaye is just starting out as a mentor for our delivery partner Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry - but he has already found a creative way to get his message across to young people....

As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘Youth Voice’ month, we visited Newport Live's Friday night LtPF session in the suburb of Pillgwenlly and asked participants Kareem, Hilmee and Raheed about the project's impact on their lives....

The initials in PKC Football Academy stand for ‘Prevent Knife Crime’ - but the aims of our new Levelling the Playing Field delivery partners extend even further beyond that....

As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘Youth Voice’ month, we spoke to Uzo Anosike, a participant at our delivery partners Street Soccer London. The budding young sports journalist told us the impact the organisation has had on his life since he first attended their Levelling the Playing Field session last year....

Tamsir Gaye is just starting out as a mentor for our delivery partner Positive Youth Foundation in Coventry - but he has already found a creative way to get his message across to young people....

Levelling the Playing Field is proud to launch its Learning and Development Framework to offer our Community of Practice the right training, for the right people in the right communities....

Sports Key, our local delivery partners in Birmingham, feel they benefited from the ‘thinking time’ given to them by Covid-19 and have re-emerged stronger post-lockdown....

Levelling the Playing Field has produced a training framework for everyone in our Community of Practice who supports ethnically diverse children - with the support of the Welsh Government....

Our local delivery partner Unity Gym Project in Sheffield offers so much more than an ordinary city-centre gym. It’s a community where young people can find support, motivation and hope....

The pandemic has hit under-served communities particularly hard and our local delivery partners in South Yorkshire have worked tirelessly to support local children who have been severely impacted....

Our local delivery partners Fight 4 Change have emerged stronger from the pandemic by moulding their programmes to meet the increased needs of young people....

The ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Justice’ research project aims to understand and document the unprecedented implications that the pandemic has had on the youth justice system and the vulnerable children it works with....

The pandemic has led to a big rise in vulnerability among young people and support services have had to be nimble and innovative to even come close to meeting these acute needs....

The pandemic has led to a big rise in vulnerability among young people and support services have had to be nimble and innovative to even come close to meeting these acute needs....

Levelling the Playing Field is to give children inside HMP/YOI Wetherby the opportunity to learn climbing both during their jail terms and as part of their resettlement into the community....

Levelling the Playing Field has partnered with prison education provider Novus to offer sport and physical activity opportunities to children in custody and after their release....

As part of Levelling the Playing Field’s ‘Criminal Justice Month’, we asked Jay Shortall, Youth Justice Officer at Sheffield Youth Justice Service, to explain from a practitioner’s viewpoint the process for a young person entering the Youth Justice System, starting from the point of arrest....

Support from youth services has never been more needed than in the last 18 months, but Covid restrictions and dwindling resources have made it tough to meet demand. Money from Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) has therefore been a lifeline for many of Levelling the Playing Field’s local delivery partners....

Levelling the Playing Field partners and Gwent Police have joined forces to stage the Community Cohesion Cup - breaking down barriers and building trust between ethnic communities and local services....

As part of our ‘Criminal Justice Month’, we asked the Youth Justice Board’s Programme Manager for Over-Represented Children, Adam Mooney, for his thoughts on Levelling the Playing Field’s potential to achieve lasting, positive change....

Levelling the Playing Field has completed its first phase of learning for delivery partners with Compassionate Integrity Training (C.I.T) receiving rave reviews from all attendees....

We know that children with neurodivergent traits are hugely over-represented in youth justice. As part of LtPF's Neurodiversity Month, we've asked Levelling the Playing Field researcher Morgan Mitchell to look at how sport and physical activity practitioners can best engage those with autism - one of the most common neurodiverse conditions....

Young refugees and asylum seekers often arrive in Newport having experienced conflict and trauma in their homelands, so when the Sanctuary project engages them in sport and physical activity, it's to achieve two very simple outcomes: to get them “sweaty and smiling”....

Palace for Life Foundation have joined Levelling the Playing Field as a local delivery partner and Angel O’Dwyer, who will be working on the project, has all the makings of a perfect role model for our participants....

As part of LtPF's Neurodiversity Month, we've invited Professor Amanda Kirby, CEO of our strategic partners Do-It Solutions, to explain why neurodiversity is so important for those working with children in community sport and criminal justice settings....

Millwall Community Trust are the latest addition to our Local Delivery Partners in London. They have been using sport to achieve positive social impact in their local community for over 35 years....

Our local delivery partners Wolverhampton Wrestling Club have launched a project to engage autistic children in sport and physical activity....

Levelling the Playing Field researcher, Morgan Mitchell, assesses some of the findings in the Centre for Justice Innovation’s report, ‘Equal diversion? Racial Disproportionality in Youth Diversion' – and seeks some solutions to the system's racial bias and disproportionality....

‘Valuing Youth Diversion: A toolkit for practitioners’ is an incredibly valuable resource for Levelling the Playing Field delivery partners seeking an evidence base to underpin their work and looking to make a strong case for continued investment....

Welsh rugby stars Leon Brown and Ashton Hewitt have pledged their support for Levelling the Playing Field as ideal role models for our participants in Gwent....

P articipants at Levelling the Playing Field sessions run by Aptitude Youth, our local delivery partners in Coventry, are set to become leaders for the next generation....

Sports neuroscientist and Levelling the Playing Field researcher, Morgan Mitchell, offers tips for looking after participants' mental health as they return to sport participation following the easing of Covid019 restrictions....

Levelling the Playing Field partners can access a range of courses to develop their understanding of the ‘child first’ approach to youth justice....

Our offer of Compassionate Integrity Training (C.I.T) has proved an instant hit with staff from our Levelling the Playing Field network across England and Wales....

Warwickshire Cricket Board have joined Levelling the Playing Field as a Local Delivery Partner – and their projects targeting specific communities are set to enrich our evidence base....

Morgan Mitchell from Levelling the Playing Field’s research team offers a fascinating perspective on the psychology and importance of diversity....

Keith Fraser, Chair of the Youth Justice Board, says a new report supporting the 'Child First' approach to youth justice will open up "exciting opportunities" for the sector....

Exiles Together is a brilliant partnership between Newport County FC and the ethnically diverse community right on the club’s doorstep. Their activities promote diversity, inclusion and diversion from crime through the power of sport....

Tess Awoke says being part of an ethnically and culturally diverse ‘brotherhood’ at Big Brother Burngreave in Sheffield has helped give him a sense of identity, connection and purpose....

Co-founder Chris Willett says Platform Cricket wouldn’t be able to achieve its impact without the diversity of its young participants....

Levelling the Playing Field has launched ‘Team Talk’ events to bring our fabulous network of partners together....

We are proud to have Sithule Mguni as a Local Delivery Partner on Levelling the Playing Field. Her organisation, Young Minds Together, uses performing arts to empower girls from ethnically diverse communities in Rotherham to overcome many barriers in life....

As a return to sport and physical activity draws closer, Levelling the Playing Field takes a look at some of the ingenious ideas that our Local Delivery Partners are using to stay connected with children during lockdown....

Young people at Fight 4 Change’s Levelling the Playing Field sessions on Wednesday nights in Lambeth will receive coaching, guidance and support from the very best in the game....

Levelling the Playing Field is set to benefit at-risk children in Coventry in a way that organisers of the project could never have foreseen....

Newport Aces are the latest Local Delivery Partner to join Levelling the Playing Field in Gwent. Their founder, Asa Waite, has a great phrase to sum up the issues his community basketball club tries to tackle with children in the area....

Mentoring has had a profound effect on Keanna Arnett’s life – and Levelling the Playing Field’s support for mentors is set to spread that positive impact across our four delivery areas....

Levelling the Playing Field is delighted to offer FREE Compassion Integrity Training (C.I.T) for staff at our local delivery partners....

The United Kingdom Committee for Unicef (Unicef UK) has praised the "innovative blueprint" offered by Levelling the Playing Field in efforts to tackle over-representation in the Youth Justice System....

Levelling the Playing Field’s upcoming mentoring training programme will be hugely beneficial to the staff and participants of our Local Delivery Partners and will help achieve the project’s common goals....

Throughout February, we’ll be finding out what mentoring means to you and gaining insights into how our local delivery partners in London, Gwent, the West Midlands and South Yorkshire go about it....

London Thunder have a reputation for producing elite-level basketball players, but their community sessions - open to all young people in the culturally diverse borough of Lewisham - are the club's beating heart....

Youth empowerment and social cohesion are the aims of Community Youth Project in Newport, which has become the first organisation in Wales to join Levelling the Playing Field as a local delivery partner....

Levelling the Playing Field’s local delivery partners say Sport England's Tackling Inequalities Fund has helped them provide a lifeline for participants through the ravages of Covid-19 lockdowns....

Chris Willetts can testify to sport’s positive social impact after a 20-year career managing sports initiatives in diverse but deprived areas around the world. He says the opportunity “to be part of a collective all helping to evidence of the power of sport” made joining Levelling the Playing Field an easy decision....

There can be few more ethnically diverse environments than that of Wolverhampton Wrestling Club. Situated in a Sikh gurdwara, it is melting pot of religions, nationalities, backgrounds, ages and sporting abilities. Once through the door, all are treated as equals....

Children so often find themselves labelled these days: ‘socially excluded’, ‘at risk’ or ‘disadvantaged’. One of Street Soccer London’s philosophies is that these tags are left at the door....

Our Levelling the Playing Field strategic partners, the Black Training and Enterprise Group (BTEG), have produced an Inclusive Employers Toolkit to help businesses increase the recruitment, retention and progression of young black men....

The University of Birmingham is seeking a Part-time Research Fellow (Grade 7) who will join the Monitoring + Evaluation Team in the School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences currently working on Levelling the Playing Field....

Levelling the Playing Field’s funders have revealed the reasons behind their record £1million grant and highlighted the project’s potential to have “a major impact on social change”....

Self-expression and social cohesion are the buzz words at Young Minds Together in Rotherham where girls from diverse local communities enjoy dance, acting, singing and poetry....

Amy Cooper’s childhood home in Sheffield had an ‘open door’ to local youngsters who needed shelter and support. When her father Mick died of leukemia in 2012, his family were determined to continue his ethos of caring for disadvantaged young people. OnBoard skatepark is his legacy....

“I just love what I do,” says Imran Ali from the Ellesmere Youth Project. “As a kid, I went to the same youth club as I’m standing in right now. Even if I become a millionaire tomorrow, there’s no way I’ll be leaving.”...

Sky Blues in the Community, the charity arm of Coventry City FC, exemplify the ways that collaboration between sport and criminal justice can bring positive outcomes for children....

Local Delivery Partners on our Levelling the Playing Field project are showing great agility and ingenuity to continue engaging with participants during England’s second Covid-19 lockdown....

The National Youth Agency has updated its Covid Guidance after the announcement of a second national lockdown saw the youth sector move to RED in the Readiness Framework....

These are tough times in Sheffield. At the time of writing, Tier 3 lockdown measures are in place and it’s October half-term, with holiday hunger a major topic of conversation....

Every Friday night at Goals five-a-side centre in Nechells, inner-city Birmingham, up to 90 young males aged 14-19 gather to play football. In-between matches, Sporting Elite director Seb Hamilton and his staff mingle and chat....

Frustrated and fearful at the lack of opportunities for children in her community back in 2017, Tara Foster wanted to bring back the “lost art” of youth work to help. Aptitude, in the deprived Radford area of Coventry, was the result – and its impact has been phenomenal....

Darrel Arjoon says “a passion for helping young people” was behind his decision to donate free laptops to all the mentors working on Levelling the Playing Field....

A new organisation which uses yoga to engage and divert children away from crime, gangs and anti-social behaviour is joining the Levelling the Playing Field project as a local delivery partner....

Changing mindsets and building resilience are the cornerstones of the InPower Academy in Wolverhampton, which uses martial arts to engage children who are at-risk of entering, or already involved with, the Youth Justice System....

As Levelling the Playing Field gets under way, the project's lead researcher Dr Hannah Baumer outlines our starting point with BAME children's under-representation in sport and physical activity and over-representation in the youth justice system....

Rotherham United Community Sports Trust are set to be the first of our Local Delivery Partners nationwide to start delivering Levelling the Playing Field as part of their weekly sport and physical activity programme....

The Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice has secured a grant of £90,048 from Sport England which will be immediately distributed to frontline organisations involved in the Levelling the Playing Field project....

Sports Key are a valuable addition to Levelling the Playing Field’s network of Local Delivery Partners in the West Midlands. They use sport as a ‘magnet’ to attract people from their largely disadvantaged but hugely diverse local community, helping to make it more active, healthy and cohesive....

Sport 4 Life use sport as a ‘hook’ to engage young people in Birmingham and guide them towards sustained education, employment or training. Last year, 79% of their beneficiaries were from BAME backgrounds and 15-20% have an offending history. For Levelling the Playing Field, they’re a gift-wrapped delivery partner....

The Positive Youth Foundation has built such an esteemed reputation for supporting young people's needs over the last 23 years that the decision to approach them to be a Local Delivery Partner for Levelling the Playing Field was a no-brainer....

Joe Jackson, founder of NPV Football Development, has worked with at-risk young people from diverse backgrounds in Wolverhampton for the last 22 years. His organisation's reputation and vast experience make it an ideal Local Delivery Partner for Levelling the Playing Field. Find out more about their frontline work....

In the underprivileged Sheffield area of Burngreave, young men and women wearing distinctive blue, red, grey and black t-shirts are recognised on every street corner. But this is no ordinary urban gang....

New figures published by the Youth Justice Board show that the need to address disproportionality in youth justice is more acute than ever....

Newport Live's highly-regarded Positive Futures initiative has come on board as LtPF's Local Strategic Partner in Gwent. Find out all about their award-winning and innovative work with young people and how they plan to support the area's at-risk BAME young people through our project....

The Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice was delighted to see its Levelling the Playing Field project highlighted in the Youth Justice Board’s 2020-21 business plan....

The appointment of Dr. Hannah Baumer has significantly strengthened the University of Birmingham's research team working on the Levelling the Playing Field project....

Levelling the Playing Field has received a major honour after being endorsed by United by Birmingham 2022, the community programme of the Commonwealth Games....

The BBC’s Newsround has spotlighted the report from Sport England which shows that children from a BAME background are less likely to take part in sport or physical activity....

The COVID-19 lockdown has seen children in Wales from lower socio-economic backgrounds suffer from a decrease in physical activity , according to new research ....

Sport Birmingham is an independent charity that uses the power of sport and physical activity to improve lives. We're delighted to have them on board as a Local Strategic Partner and spoke to Operations Director, Tom McIntosh, about our forthcoming partnership....

The Yorkshire Sport Foundation is Levelling the Playing Field's Local Strategic Partner in South Yorkshire. We hope to help them build on their exemplary work with local sport-based projects that support young people from BAME communities....

London Sport's ambition is to make London the most active city in the world. As one of LtPF's Local Strategic Partners, we will work with them to engage and energise at-risk young people from minority backgrounds across the capital. Read on to find out how....