An innovative North Lanarkshire partnership project that provides a comprehensive programme of fun, free and interactive activities for young people on a Saturday night – helping cut youth crime and antisocial behaviour – has picked up the best team title at this year's COSLA Excellence Awards.

 

Saturday Sportscene – provided by North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, North Lanarkshire Council, Strathclyde Police, NHS Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire Community Safety Partnership, Shotts Healthy Living Centre and Sidekix – was named best team for the strategic partnership working that has shattered the stereotypical image of young people with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

 

Saturday Sportscene – which began in April 2006 – offers a targeted programme of free activities between 6pm and 10pm on Saturday nights and now runs in Airdrie Leisure Centre, Shotts Leisure Centre and the Tryst Sports Centre in Cumbernauld.

 

Saturday Sportscene activities – which are taken by fully qualified coaches and tutors provided by Sidekix – include swimming, dance, football, basketball, badminton, gym sessions, sumo wrestling, mobile skate park, climbing wall as well as health checks and access to IT equipment. The programme was also extended to include other community activities such as music and drama, increasing the choices on offer to the young people.

 

Councillor Jim Logue, Convener of North Lanarkshire Council's Leisure and Learning Services Committee and Chair of North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, said: "Saturday Sportscene – the result of an innovative public-private-voluntary sector partnership – started off as a pilot project in the Shotts area in response to concerns about a lack of facilities and activities for young people in the area, and very quickly proved to be a major success.

 

"One of the main objectives of the pilot project was to reduce antisocial behaviour. Over the course of the pilot project, there was an estimated reduction of around 34 per cent in the number of antisocial behaviour complaints made to the police, which is just incredible. We then extended the scheme to both Airdrie and Cumbernauld and now have almost 1,500 young people registered and hundreds of young people regularly and actively taking part in activities and meeting new people.

 

"Key to our success has been the input from all agencies involved. Without the expertise, experience and knowledge of each partner and without everyone putting in the time and effort, it just wouldn't have worked. We have also worked closely with the young people themselves as it is crucial we have buy-in and input from them.

 

"It's all too easy for people to envision the stereotypical image of young people hanging around street corners because there's nowhere to go and nothing to do – and that image has been well and truly shattered in North Lanarkshire thanks to Saturday Sportscene."

 

Councillor Logue's views were echoed by some of the young people themselves:

 

Paul Lappin (13) said: "It's brilliant to have somewhere to go and something to do on a Saturday night. We can meet and play football or go swimming with our mates without fear of getting into fights or getting into trouble with the police. We don't get moaned at by old people."

 

Linda Hart (14) added: "We go to the dancing and the gym which is something we didn't do in the past. We used to just hang around shops or the local park getting into trouble but now we have somewhere to go. Three cheers for Saturday Sportscene!"

 

One parent – who didn't want to be named – also said: "Our children used to say the reason for hanging about the streets was because there was nothing else to do. They said they got into trouble because they were bored. Now with Saturday Sportscene they are occupied for four hours within a safe and secure environment – it is a godsend."

 

Strathclyde Police's Alfie Jones, North Lanarkshire's Community Safety Co-ordinator, added: "Over a number of years we have introduced more CCTV, ASBOs and Parenting Orders within the North Lanarkshire Council area with some success.

 

"The introduction of Saturday Sportscene in the Airdrie, Cumbernauld and Shotts areas has made a huge impact on positive crime statistics. The project has reduced the number of calls we received from the local community with regards youth disorder by over 35% and youth crime on Saturday nights has fallen by more than 30%.

 

"Saturday Sportscene has been hugely successful in reducing antisocial behaviour in North Lanarkshire and is now one of the positive elements in our fight against crime and disorder within our local communities in making them safer places to live."

 

Sandie Mackay, Chair of the North Lanarkshire Community Safety Partnership, said: "Saturday Sportscene gives young people the opportunity to get involved in their local community and make use of the facilities on offer in a way that promotes health, fitness, community involvement and personal responsibility. It decriminalises the behaviour of young people and engages them into the local community by introducing them to free sport and leisure activities. And the great thing is that this programme doesn't just provide something to do on a Saturday night – it opens up a whole host of activities and possibilities that these young people may never have thought about before. Some young people are now involved in sports clubs as a result."

 

Blane Dodds, Chief Executive of North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, concluded: "Over the last few years we have heard regularly from young people that there is nothing for them to do and nowhere for them to go and there was a feeling among the young people that nobody and no organisation seemed to want to take action and do anything to change this. What we have achieved through Saturday Sportscene and our partnership working has completely turned that situation around and made such a difference in these areas. I'm sure I speak for everyone involved when I say how proud we are to have been named COSLA's best team."

 

COSLA Vice President Councillor Rob Murray, who chaired the judging panel, described the entries for the awards this year as truly special: "The COSLA Excellence Awards are the Scottish Local Government Oscars – year after year we see projects which continue to live up to this billing.

 

"Each of the winning projects is wholly innovative and dynamic, and it's been a very positive experience to be involved in the judging of these projects which represent the very best of public service delivery across all of Scottish Local Government today."

 

Councillor Murray continued: "Each of our finalists was passionately enthusiastic about their work, fully committed to their projects and utterly convinced of the knock-on community benefits.

 

"We had more than 160 entries for these awards, and all those who took part can be proud of their achievements in developing exciting initiatives which make local government services more responsive and effective."

 

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