By Aroosa Ahmed
Cricket charity tackling knife crime and violence in Birmingham
Chance to Shine has launched the ‘Crime awareness programme’ in four secondary schools in inner-city Birmingham. It is facilitated by the Alliance of Sport through two partnerships; the first is the TSA projects, the organisation concentrating in guiding vulnerable young people away from crime, including violence, and the second partnership was with HMP Oakwood in the West Midlands, where the goal is to encourage young boys in the sport academies to set up in the prison and train them to deliver cricket sessions in schools upon their release.
The joint effort between the education and mentoring delivered by TSA projects’ CEO Tanayah Sam, who is a former offender, and cricket sessions delivered by a Warwickshire CCC cricket coach, made a powerful combination. The programme, which will be running for 12 weeks, aimed to educate young boys between the ages of 12-15 who were already in danger of expulsion from schools and that had reported issues with drugs and gangs. Of the 41 individuals who completed the programme, half had already been involved with the criminal justice system.
Steering young people away from a life of crime and violence
The programme’s goals were to prevent participants from withdrawing from education, change attitudes of youngsters of gangs and carrying knives, spread awareness of consequences of actions, build coping skills and resilience, and give them an alternative to crime.
An average day on the programme would see TSA projects deliver mentoring sessions and workshops on gang culture, knife crime, and drug crime, which aims to demystify youngsters’ impressions of offending and jailtime. Towards the end of the programme, the participants make a short presentation for their peers about the consequences of knife crime.
Essential messages from the classroom are reinforced on the cricket field, for instance, the participants are taught the concept of ‘joint enterprise’ - the legal doctrine which states an individual may share responsibility and be found guilty for a crime if they are present when it happens, regardless of whether or not they were the perpetrator. This is applicable to young people in gangs who may think they are ‘safe’ if they hide at the back when stabbings or violence occurs.
TSA CEO Tanayah Sam has said: ‘having ex-offenders deliver part of the programme worked really well too. The young people respected the experience of the tutors and they were seen as positive role models, and therefore able to engage the young people’. At the end of the programme, youngsters are signposted to an accessible and inclusive local cricket club.
Impact
The young boys on the programme reported a real change in their attitudes to carrying knives, committing crimes, and the police. Now that they are aware of the consequences, youngsters are able to make better decisions. Teachers at their schools have witnessed a greater awareness of risk and academic commitment.
One teacher has remarked that: a couple of them have had run-ins with the police and their outlook has changed from being completely shut-off and aggressive to learning the strategies Tanayah has taught them by asking questions calmly. They’ve changed their outlook on the police as well. It’s been a complete culture change.
One of the youngsters who has taken part in the partnership has said: I feel like I could deal with the police better. I also think I would never put myself in the position to get done for anything such as carrying a knife or joint enterprise.
Sport is one of the most effective ways to engage with the most challenging individuals caught up in a cycle of crime and imprisonment. Chance to Shine is a cricket charity based in Birmingham. The charity brings cricket to thousands of disadvantaged young people, especially those often under-represented in sport. The charity aims to reach and engage with young people in urban communities. Initiatives like the Crime Awareness Programme are desperately needed to help local communities to address and challenge knife crimes and other crimes and guide young people away from such destructive behaviours.