£74,920 for Staffordshire Youth Offending Service reducing the barriers project 

Sports Development within the Staffordshire Youth Offending Service (SYOS) aims to work with key partners to achieve a number of objectives for young people accessing sport and active recreation within their own community.

The main anticipated outcomes include:

• Increasing participation in sport and active recreation.
• Contributing to the reduction in crime and anti social behaviour
• Providing positive volunteering pathways into sport and active recreation.

The ways in which these outcomes are achieved rely upon working in partnership with a variety of statutory, voluntary and private providers to achieve shared outcomes and identifying gaps in provision in targeted areas throughout Staffordshire.

SYOS Sport Development offers a variety of services which include:

• A referral system for practitioners to identify young people who would benefit from accessing sport and active recreation.
• A signposting and information service for practitioners and young people

Rauf Mirza, Chair, Regional Sports Board said:  

“Young people need to be given opportunities to be engaged in positive activities; sport can give them this, providing great team experiences and real personal achievement. Through this programme, funded by the National Lottery through Sport England’s Community Investment Fund, young people with anti-social behavioural problems will be involved in sport, providing them with the diversionary activities they need to change their lives. I wish the programme every success”.

For further details please contact:

Dave Sandford
SYOS Sports Development Officer
Tel: 01785 358314 / 07815827800
Email dave.sandford@staffordshire.gov.uk