AITC and police join forces to tackle anti-social behaviour
A group of young people from Brighton and Hove were invited to the Amex Stadium as part of a programme combatting anti-social behaviour.
The group of children, aged between 11 and 16, all take part in our Premier League Kicks sessions in Moulsecoomb. The Premier League Kicks programme provides free football sessions for young people in some of the country’s most high-need neighbourhoods.
The group took part in three different workshops all aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour and promoting better choices.
Albion legend Guy Butters also joined the session to meet the youngsters and help reinforce the positive messages they learned.
One of the workshops was all about and promoting diversity and inclusion, inviting the group to see how they can celebrate their differences.
AITC tutors also ran an interactive workshop on the dangers of drugs and alcohol consumption. As part of this, the group tried on VR headsets designed to show them how their vision changes under the influence of different substances.
Martin Schooley, Inclusion Manager at AITC, said: “We’re glad to have had such a positive reaction from the group today, they really paid attention and hopefully they’ll take these messages with them in the future.
“It was really helpful to have Sussex Police come to this session to run one of the workshops, it helps us to drive home the important messages we’re trying to teach.”
Officers from Sussex Police were invited to run the third workshop, which focused on anti-social behaviour.
Chief Inspector Simon Yates, Force Lead at Sussex Police’s Serious Violence and Knife Crime unit, told us that sessions like these are vital in breaking down barriers between the police and the community.
“We’ve been providing some intervention and education for the children today around anti-social behaviour and what impact that can have on others.
“We’re really trying to open up their eyes and help them understand that something that might be small and trivial to them could really impact someone else.
“Workshops like these are so important for people under the age of 25. Doing sessions like this, bringing us to the same level, removes a barrier between us. We can be more personable with them and engage on a different level.
“Having Albion in the Community work with us is something that really removes that barrier.”
Find out more about how we help to tackle inequality: https://bhafcfoundation.org.uk/community-wellbeing/reducing-inequality/
This article was written when our name was Albion in the Community. As of August 1 2023, we are the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation.