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.
The former Team GB sprinter works for our partners Sports Connect and will deliver athletics sessions with residents of Cookham Wood YOI in Kent.
The partnership is part of a wider project with prison education providers Novus which aims to use sport to engage young people in custody. After their release from custody, participants are linked up with relevant, local opportunities in sport as part of their individual resettlement plans, which will help keep them engaged in positive activities and reduce their chances of reoffending.
As part of the same project, Climb Unity are leading climbing activity at HMPYOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire and offering opportunities in participation and coaching qualifications post-release. Sale Sharks Community Trust will be working with learners at HMYOI Werrington in Staffordshire and connecting them up with rugby opportunities post-custody.
Marilyn, a 4x400m bronze medal winner at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2007 World Championships in Osaka, has already visited Cookham Wood and met participants on two occasions. She cannot wait for the project to start.
“I am delighted to be involved in the Levelling the Playing Field partnership,” she said. “I believe sport has a power to change lives – it certainly has mine – and I now seek to use my platform along with the many lessons I have learned throughout my career to mentor and support the next generation.
“I particularly have a heart to encourage and motivate those who face adversity, helping them to unlock the ‘champion mindset’ it takes to bounce back in life and smash their goals! The fact I can do this using sport is simply a bonus!
“I am really excited to visit Cookham Wood again as part of this new project and help to increase participation and challenge under-representation in a range of sports.”
Marilyn will be Project Lead over the planned 36 weeks of provision and Sports Connect will work closely with its network of community partners to ensure each individual has a bespoke post-release package and support system in place to improve their life chances and support their desistance from crime on the outside.
Working alongside Novus, Sports Connect have been delivering sport-based intervention work with residents of Cookham Wood for several years. The personal relationships they build with each boy helps set them up with education pathways to support each individual with the most appropriate opportunities once they are released into the community.
“I am excited that we can raise participation by offering new activity and sports to the young people in Cookham Wood,” said Sports Connect director William Lee. “This will be a collaborative approach with the Physical Education Instructor, Activities team and Novus teams so that we can use the sessions as a vehicle to support resettlement plans and employment through coaching sport.”
Sports Connect were able to resume sport and exercise sessions inside Cookham Wood this summer following the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions. In June, July and August, they averaged 252 positive attendances per month from over 100 boys and an uptake in participation of 98%. This supports Novus’ own research which found that 92% of individuals surveyed said they were interested in taking part in sport.
“We are now looking forward to beginning the Levelling the Playing Field partnership and ready to support the estate as it makes the next step out of Covid 19 and can begin to offer new sports provision,” added William.
The LtPF partnership will also feed into William’s work as a member of the Kent FA Equality Advisory Group which reviews the implementation of the FA’s diversity strategy for sports across Kent. “In the community we support the FA’s strategy to increase the Black, Asian and minority ethic workforce at grassroots level and are directly involved in its implementation and strategic review. I am excited that we can raise participation by offering new activity and sports to the young people in Cookham Wood.”
Karen Baker, Head of Education at Novus, added: “We continue to enjoy working with Sports Connect and planning for the delivery of Levelling the Playing Field at Cookham Wood. This can be a hugely impactful project as Sports Connect’s delivery in July alone saw them register 336 attendances from 99 different boys in custody.
“Using their informal delivery style, they have contributed strongly to our community objectives by creating a structured environment that facilitates the opportunity for staff and boys to build rapport through sport. It is also really exciting to hear that Marilyn Okoro will become the Ambassador for the project and help to support the delivery and implementation of the strategy.”
Sports Connect are also working in Cookham Wood’s resettlement unit to assist boys and staff to create their own sports club. In partnership with the Secure Stairs Strategy the boys have implemented their own club committee and structure, each with their own roles and responsibilities. The four committee leaders will also be enrolled onto an NCFE Level 1 coaching qualification which will support their Novus education pathway and resettlement opportunities.
The Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice (who manage Levelling the Playing Field) have assisted Sports Connect in applying to Sport England for Tackling Inequalities Funding to support the initiative.
Alliance of Sport Co-Founder and COO, Justin Coleman, said: “Being an athlete takes dedication, commitment and sacrifice. Marilyn Okoro is therefore the perfect role model and has the mindset and experience to inspire young people inside the Secure Estate.
“Marilyn can help them learn about resilience and take this with them through the gate into appropriate pro-social opportunities within their communities and for life.
“We now have three community sports organisations inside the Secure Estate supporting the Levelling the Playing Field project, kickstarting ‘resilience journeys’ which we hope will have a significant impact on reducing recidivism and improving life chances.”