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"Without the input from Cricket for Change I know that we would have permanently excluded one of our young pupils….Your work and commitment gave this pupil a chance to shine and feel worthy, it also gave her hope for her future."
Cricket for Change and Owais Shah helps bring 'Peace at the Crease'
Jul 16, 2010
Thursday July 15th, on a windy evening in East London, saw Cricket for Change launch the ‘Peace at the Crease’ initiative as part of the 'Streetchance' Programme and supported by 'Barclays Space for Sports'.
'Peace at the Crease' (PATC) was set up to aid the London Metropolitan Police in becoming more involved within the 'Streetchance' programme by helping them build stronger relationships with the young people on the programmes and also highlight the strength and effectiveness of the 'Streetchance' initiative.
This will involve teams from the MET police coming along a regular basis to the 'Streetchance' community sessions and talking to and playing games against the young people - exactly what happened during the launch in East London!
In the London Borough of Waltham Forest, where the launch took place, is the Priory Court Estate, Walthamstow. This estate is blighted with youth crime and has a very strong gang culture.
Cricket for Change Development Manager, Adam Hall and Cricket for Change coach, Perry Sophocleous both grew up locally to the estate and know the issues surrounding the estate.
The PATC launch saw England & Middlesex batsmen, Owais Shah, in attendance who played alongside the police and young people. There were 40 young people from the estate at the launch, ranging from 6 to 19 years of age.
One young person said, “It’s hard living round here but it’s great we get to play cricket every week with Adam & Perry. They are showing us that gangs are not good and when I get to 16 I really want to do the cricket apprenticeship to get away from this life of crime”.
Adam (Hall) added, “Growing up locally when I was younger I knew all the issues surrounding the estate and wanted to make a change to this estate using cricket. 'Street20'* has the power to change these young people’s lives and put them into something positive just like I did. All these kids can relate to me and Perry and I know a lot of their older brothers and sisters. But our number one aim is to show positive messages to the outside world of the good the young people of this bad area are doing”.
Cricket for Change want to thank Gulsun Faik at 'Circle 33' for her ongoing efforts in making the 'Streetchance' programme better on the Priory Court Eestate. She is a true star to many young people, living locally and is also a star in the eyes of Cricket for Change.
'Peace at the Crease' is due to be rolled out amongst all 15 'Streetchance' based London Borough's.
* - 'Street20' is the form of cricket devised by Cricket for Change and used in the 'Streetchance' programme.
