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END OF SEASON FRIENDLY
A football match can be a positive way of breaking down barriers between the police and young people, as it was on Thursday 17th May at the VCD Football Club, Old Road, Dartford.
Young people from Barnehurst and Bexleyheath challenged their local police to a ‘friendly’ and PC Andy Hammonds from the Barnehurst Safer Neighbourhoods Policing Team organised the game.
VCD Football Club kindly offered use of the pitch and facilities and provided hot food for the players after the match. Charlton Athletic Football Club donated home and away football strips which will be used for future games.
The 11-a-side match was signed up to by local youngsters of around 15 years of age and off-duty police officers and police community support officers from Bexley Police.
Friends and families came along to watch a well-contested game resulting in a final score of 5-1 to the police side.
“Sport is a great way for us to get to know the young people we see when we are patrolling our ward” said PC Andy Hammonds. “Thanks to the help of VCD Football Club and Charlton Athletic FC we have got to know some of the local teenagers and the feedback from parents and friends who watched the game made it a valuable 90 minutes spent on the football pitch”.
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Bid to help Bexley’s Sporting Talent
Talented athletes are to get all the help that Bexley Council can possibly arrange in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Council has established a Gifted and Talented Scrutiny Sub-Group to look into ways Bexley’s athletes can be encouraged. The Group will investigate ways in which support can be harnessed and made available for gifted and talented sports people - both able bodied and disabled.
At its most recent meeting on 14 June the group received a presentation from Mike Bishop, Disability Sports Development Officer with the Kent Sports Development Unit in West Malling. He said: “One Kent based company had donated £25,000 to support 10 disabled potential Paralympians over a two-year period”.
Mike went on to tell the group that other companies were keen to consider much smaller donations and possibly even sponsoring a talented athlete.
The group also looked at similar schemes being set up in other local authorities and were impressed with the idea of setting up a charitable trust consisting of influential local people to take on the challenge of helping local sports men and women.
Councillor Alan Downing, Chairman of Bexley’s Leisure Arts and Tourism Overview and Scrutiny Committee, says: “We have a wealth of sporting talent in Bexley but we have been made aware of the funding difficulties facing our young sports stars. If we were lucky enough to secure this type of support from a Bexley company, or even a number of much smaller donations, we could really help these young people to fulfil their dreams.
“The determination, commitment and sacrifices made by these athletes and their families are enormous. They are great ambassadors for young people and for Bexley and we should try our best to stimulate the local business community to get involved”.
The group plans to meet in September to finalise its findings - before presenting them to the full Leisure Arts and Tourism Overview and Scrutiny Committee in October.
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Jamelia will be headlining this year’s Trust Thamesmead Summer Festival which co-insides with Thamesmead’s 40th birthday. Keeping in theme, acts from the last four decades, including Showaddywaddy, The Real Thing, Sybil, Antony Costa, The Honeyz and Trust Thamesmead’s T Factor winners Audio Hawk will all be performing on stage.
Click here for for more details |
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