StreetGames Festivals
Young people try new sports and volunteer at StreetGames Festivals
Newham Council partnered with local organisations to provide a range of sports and activities as well as volunteering opportunities for children and young people.
To address the decline in physical activity by children and young people, caused by the pandemic, Newham Council joined forces with charity StreetGames.
The partnership targeted the negative impact of the pandemic and also the inequalities that some groups face when accessing sports.
At the end of August, three separate festivals took place across a number of locations in Newham: Brampton Park on 20 August, Hermit Park on 23 August and Stratford Park on 25 August.
One parent at the Hermit Park Festival said: “My kids have had a great morning – the inflatable wall and the face painting has kept them entertained.”
Wapping Youth Football Club, Ambition Aspire Achieve (AAA) and XLP helped StreetGames give children and young people the opportunity to try new sports including archery, wall climbing, zorbing, boxing, basketball, martial arts and golf.
A 17-year-old person at the Stratford Park Festival said: “It’s been good to try out the boxing today. I was just walking past with my mates and we had no plans, so it’s been nice to hang out a bit and box.
“That was cool – I might try to go down to Micky’s [boxing] club to see what’s happening.”
A 14-year-old said: “I loved trying out the martial arts and the boxing. It was nice to be doing it outside instead of in a hall because it didn’t feel like everyone was watching me. So I was a bit more confident to give it a go.”
Nicole Napier, Newham’s Public Health Commissioning Manager, said: “This was also an opportunity for local organisations to raise awareness of their own activities and signpost children and young people to wider services on offer across the borough.”