HC 1456 Home Affairs CommitteeSupplementary written evidence submitted by Kickz
Kickz is an enormously widespread initiative now involving 43 professional clubs in the Premier League and Football League, who are delivering 113 separate projects on the ground. We have 19 different police forces involved in delivering the project with the clubs, and 50,000 young people registered in the programme.
Mark—on the specific question you raised on whether we have done any research into the effectiveness of the project. (Apologies, as Gary Broadhurst misinterpreted what you were asking about). The fact is that monitoring and evaluation of our projects is a hugely important element, as it is with any of our community-focused initiatives in which we are investing significant money, time and resource. We look to carefully register and follow the young people involved and chart their progression in Kickz—often from participant, to volunteer, to part or full-time employment with the club (we now have 400 young people in paid work at clubs who came from the Kickz project, and 5,000 volunteers i.e. one in every ten on the project goes on to volunteer).
Of course we also work with the police to monitor the impact of Kickz projects on crime and Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) levels in each area they exist. The Metropolitan Police Service for example have calculated the following about the existing London projects, comparing years 2010 to 2006 (prior to their existence).
Areas in which Kickz is run there have been a:
31% total reduction in Theft of Motor Vehicle offences—potential saving of over £7.4million to the Criminal Justice System (CJS).
23.3% total reduction in Criminal Damage offences—potential saving of over £3.7million to CJS.
25.7% total reduction in Robbery offences - potential saving of over £10.9million to CJS.
2.1% total reduction in Violence against the Person offences—potential saving of over £6.2million to CJS.
2.8% total reduction in Burglary in a Dwelling offences—potential saving of over £807,000 to CJS.
Two specific examples include:
Elthorne Park, Islington. 67.2% reduction in Violence against the Person offences on Kickz project days—potential saving of over £3.2million to CJS.
Berner Estate, Tower Hamlets. 19.1% reduction in Violence against the Person offences on Kickz project days - potential saving of over £1million to CJS.
Similar examples can also be found nationally and include:
Stockbridge, Merseyside. Violence Against the Person down 14.1% on scheme days—potential saving of over £426,600 to CJS.
Clifton, Nottingham. 21.3% reduction in Violence Against the Person on scheme days—potential saving of over £364,000 to CJS.
Fallowfield, Manchester. Violence Against the Person down 56.9% on scheme days—potential saving of over £1.7 million to CJS.
Oldham, Manchester. Violence Against the Person down 28.9% on scheme days - potential saving of over £2.2 million to CJS.
The programme was also highlighted in the report Teenage Kicks commissioned by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and produced by charity think tank and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), in which they studied one of Arsenal’s Kickz projects and found that one Kickz project creates £7 value for every £1 invested, by reducing costs to victims, police, prisons and courts.
The attached briefing document gives you further information around all elements to the project. We have also recently published a short report to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the project which focuses on some specific case studies to have been affected by Kickz.
Kickz Project Visit
We would be very happy to arrange for you to see a project in action if you would like to see how it manifests itself on the ground. I think you will be enormously impressed with the impact it is having, not just on the specific issue of reducing crime and ASB, but in the wider sense of improving entire communities in some of the most deprived part of the country.
October 2011