LEYTON ORIENT WIN COMMUNITY CLUB OF THE YEAR 2009

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 30 March 2009

LEYTON ORIENT WIN COMMUNITY CLUB OF THE YEAR 2009
Community Sports Programme recognised in national awards

London - Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) have won the CSI Sports Community Club of the Year Award for League 1 at the 2009 Football League Awards incorporating FourFourTwo’s Top 50 Football League Players.

The club received the award at a gala dinner at Grosvenor House, Park Lane on Sunday evening in front of more than 800 attendees from clubs, sponsors and the football industry.

Working in some of the most deprived areas of London, Leyton Orient’s Community Sports Programme’s core work takes place in six London boroughs with a total combined population of over 1.3 million people and delivers activity aimed at diverse communities.

The programme runs over 200 sports and education sessions every week and provides more than 225,000 participation and engagement opportunities for people every year. Demonstrating unrivalled sustainability, the Programme has a significant turnover and 40 staff working across the projects.

Leyton Orient’s stand out achievement in 2008 has been their social inclusion activity, encompassing initiatives such as Progressive Pathways, Kickz, Progressive Futures and Family Learning Days.

Sitting at the core of their social inclusion activity is the Leyton Orient ‘Eid Cup’, which is an annual national sporting event aimed at breaking down barriers facing British Muslims in their local and national communities. It aims to highlight how different communities can be brought together using sports as a means of engagement.

Henry Winter, Telegraph journalist and judge in this category said:

“The Eid Cup is excellent. Everything about Orient’s schemes show that they are right at the heart of the community.”

Neil Taylor, LOCSP Chief Executive said:

“It’s great to receive this award, which is recognition for not just this year but the 20 years we’ve been doing this work.

“We’ve always aimed to be innovative, people-focused and to use our knowledge and expertise to bring the best out of young people. And they’ve been on the journey with us – life would have been a challenge for many of them, but we’ve given them a focus and that’s very rewarding.”

Greg Baker, Regional Manager (South East), Football League Trust said:

“I'd like to congratulate LOCSP on winning this well deserved award for their work within their local community.

“The range of activities and initiatives offered by them is hugely impressive and I am confident that they will continue to go from strength to strength.

“LOCSP has proved consistently over the past few years that it is one of the very best Football Club community programmes, not only in League One, but in England.”

Dave Edmundson, General Manager, Football League Trust said:

“Many congratulations to all the staff at LOCSP, and fully deserved.

“The award is deserved recognition for an outstanding and all-embracing scheme that has a significant and positive impact within the community served by the club.”

Barry Hearn, Chairman, Leyton Orient FC said:

“This is a tremendous honour for Leyton Orient and the excellent work that has been going on in the east London community, not only over recent months, but the past two decades.

“It's a richly deserved recognition for the way in which the Football Club and Community Sports Programme have worked together for the collective benefit of local people.”

Lord Mawhinney, Football League Chairman said:

“Once again, these awards have given us the opportunity to honour those individuals whose commitment to the game, their club or local community goes beyond the call of duty.

"The fourth Football League Awards have been an enormous success, and I congratulate all the winners on their achievements."

The Football League Awards show will be aired on Sky Sports 1 on Tuesday 31st March at 6.30pm and a special Coca-Cola Football League Podcast, featuring all the highlights of the night, will be available on http://www.football-league.co.uk/ and iTunes from Monday evening.

To find out more about The Football League Awards, including all the photos and news from the evening, please visit http://www.footballleagueawards.com/.

For more information about Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme contact Andrew McSteen, LOCSP Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973, email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org or visit www.locsp.org.

Notes to editors:-
Photos and more information here:
http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/News/FLAwardsDetail/0,,10794~1605830,00.html
Sponsor
CSI Sports is delighted to have the honour of being a partner of The Football League Awards for the third season running, which further endorses a long-standing relationship of which we are very proud. We wish all those short listed for awards the best of luck.
Judging
The select committee of judges for the Football League Awards comprises influential and respected representatives from the media, sponsors and The Football League, alongside industry experts for the various categories. For this category judges were looking for the clubs in each division that best demonstrated results in engaging and strengthening links with the local community during the 2008 calendar year. Judges looked at the all-round community programme and one of the core themes (education, health, sports participation and social inclusion) in which the club believes they excel. The League 1 clubs shortlisted were:
Brighton & Hove Albion
Colchester United
Leyton Orient
Oldham Athletic
Southend United

Winners
The full list of winners from The 2009 Football League Awards is as follows:
EA SPORTS Fan of the Year (in association with BBC Radio 5 Live)
Warner Duff – Ipswich Town
Family Club of the Year – League 2
Shrewsbury Town
Highly Commended – Wycombe Wanderers
Family Club of the Year – League 1
Southend United
Family Club of the Year – Championship
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Highly Commended – Norwich City
 Press Association Sport Best Matchday Programme
Burnley – ‘Claret and You’
Championship Manager Apprentice of the Year – Coca-Cola League 2
Matthew Phillips – Wycombe Wanderers
Championship Manager Apprentice of the Year – Coca-Cola League 1
Tom Aldred – Carlisle United
Championship Manager Apprentice of the Year – Coca-Cola Championship
Sean Scannell – Crystal Palace
PFA Player In The Community
Graeme Murty – Reading
Community Club of the Year – League 2 CSI SPORTS
Brentford
Community Club of the Year – League 1 CSI SPORTS
Leyton Orient
Highly Commended – Brighton and Hove Albion
Community Club of the Year – Championship CSI Sports
Charlton Athletic
Mitre Goal of the Year (in association with Soccer AM)
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Perform Best Fan Marketing Campaign
Preston North End – ‘Lilywhites Go Green’
Highly Commended – Huddersfield Town – ‘The £100 Season Ticket
and the Centenary’
Sky Digital Media Best Digital Communication
Milton Keynes Dons
Highly Commended – Reading
FourFourTwo Young Player of the Year**
Fabian Delph – Leeds United
FourFourTwo Player of the Year – Coca-Cola League 2*
Grant Holt – Shrewsbury Town
FourFourTwo Player of the Year – Coca-Cola League 1*
Matt Fryatt – Leicester City
FourFourTwo Player of the Year – Coca-Cola Championship*
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Contribution to League Football
Jimmy Hill OBE
*These awards will be presented to the highest ranked player in each division in FourFourTwo’s Top 50 Football League Players
**This award will be presented to the highest ranked young Football League player in FourFourTwo’s Top 50 Football League Players
- ENDS -

YOUNG REPORTERS INTERNATIONAL DEBUT!

LOCSP Press Release – Monday 30 March 2009

YOUNG REPORTERS INTERNATIONAL DEBUT!

This past weekend saw three youngsters from Newham and Waltham Forest visit Wembley, in conjunction with the Football Association (FA), to report on the England v Slovakia international football friendly as part of their work with the media mentoring programme at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP).

Bushara Hameda and Aamena Suleman (both from Newham) are currently students on the Radiowaves ‘Supporter to Reporter’ (S2R) project, run through the LOCSP Education Department and Andrew Bontiff, from Waltham Forest, has been working on the media mentoring programme at LOCSP for the past year.

Friday saw the group attend the Slovakian pre-match press conference and observe how it works, before watching the Slovakian national team train on the Wembley pitch in preparation for the match the following day.

The group also interviewed Janka Peráčková, the Slovak FA Press Officer and Setanta TV commentator Jon Champion.

Matchday saw the group based in the press box and press lounge, reporting on the match and attending the post match press conference with Fabio Capello and the Slovakian manager, Vladimir Weiss.

Both days saw tasks set for the young students with completed work being added to their portfolios for future use.

Student Andrew Bontiff said:
“This was a brilliant experience that I will never forget. It was really special and quite overwhelming - being a passionate England fan and going to Wembley to report on my heroes.

“The atmosphere around the ground was marvellous and the game was a joy to watch. This whole experience will really help me in my future career, as I aspire to become a leading football journalist. Working in the press box and being around some of the nation’s top writers like Henry Winter and Martin Samuel was so pleasing and
it has given me a taste of the big stage.

“I would like to thank the FA for giving me the opportunity to spend two splendid days at Wembley, which has been an extremely valuable experience. Now I am hungry for more and determined to continue working hard and one day hopefully report at the highest level.”

Student Aamena Suleman said:

“Going to the pre-match press conference was a great opportunity for me to get
an insight of what actually happens at a press conference, as I have never xperienced one before.

“We learnt many new things by watching the press conference and interviewing people like Janka who is high up on the media side of things.

“The pre-match conference with the Slovakian manager and player was a great experience as I saw how language can be a barrier for many people. However, being able to sit there and be a part of the press conference was very enjoyable for me and I would love to do it again.”

Student Bushara Hameda said:

“I really enjoyed the match a lot because I had never been in a press box before. It was interesting sitting there and seeing all the reporters focusing on the match, taking notes and watching the little TVs, transmitting the pictures – it’s quite a pressurised environment to work in.

“I had a great time and we would to thank everyone for letting us come along - I would love to get an opportunity like this again!”

LOCSP Communications Officer Andrew McSteen said:

“The three young students were a real credit to themselves and to Leyton Orient.
They really showed an eagerness to learn about the media world, whilst completing the variety of tasks set for them - Andrew even had chance to introduce himself to the Voice newspaper staff and organise some work experience!

“Entering an environment like the press box at an England international at Wembley can be quite intimidating but they all handled it well.

“We have had positive follow-ups from both the Slovakian FA and English FA and we are currently exploring the possibilities of working with them in the future.”

For more information about the Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme Media Mentoring Programme or Supporter to Report please contact Andrew McSteen, Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973 or email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org.

Editors Notes
1. Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), current Football League 1 Community Club of the Year, exists to help young people develop the skills and confidence to succeed in their lives, with our core work taking place in the six London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Newham, Redbridge, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney - a total combined population of over 1.3 million people.

Established in May 1989 by Leyton Orient Football Club and the London Borough of Waltham Forest, LOCSP started working with 150 young people a week and now provides over 4,500 sporting and educational participation and engagement opportunities every week for young people across London - equating to 225,000 a year.

LOCSP has invested £5.5 million in the east London community since 1998 and work with some of the most challenging young people, jointly confronting difficult issues including racism, sexism, lack of cultural awareness, crime, unemployment, lack of education and training and ageism.

2. LOCSP have been running an informal Media Mentoring Programme since the summer of 2008, using in-house contacts across a variety of sports and media related organisations to gain access to the press box at sporting events. Through this programme we have been able to offer the young people who attend our sessions -either as participants or volunteer coaches – the opportunity to report on a number of sporting events.

These sporting events have included Leyton Orient games (home and reserve), Tottenham Hotspur reserve matches, Crystal Palace IAAF Athletics, GB Basketball @ The o2, England Netball @ The o2 and, in March 2009 England v Slovakia at Wembley for an international football friendly. During these events our young participants have had the opportunity to experience what life is like in the world of professional media whilst reporting on the action and interviewing the personalities on and off the field of action.

The main aim of the programme is to give the youngsters involved an insight into the media world, prepare them for the job if they so choose and to improve their confidence and communication skills. One young person who has worked with the informal project for the past year has now gained work experience at The Voice newspaper.

3. ‘Supporter to Reporter’ (S2R) is an innovative project that works with disadvantaged young people nationwide and gives them hands-on experience in developing media skills by receiving professional training and then interviewing, filming and creating their own stories and content based around high profile sporting events.

Towards the end of 2008, S2R was brought in to LOCSP through Radiowaves and run through the LOCSP Education Department. As the London hub for the project LOCSP have now trained and worked with over 20 young people from across Waltham Forest and continue to help with the development of the project locally and nationally.

4. Links to Radiowaves stories from England v Slovakia:

England v Slovakia: Interview with Slovak FA Press Officer Janka Perácková
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/54163

England v Slovakia: Interviewing My Crazy Twiin Pitchside
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/54184

England v Slovakia: Friday Pre-Match Press Conference
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/51704

England v Slovakia: Interview with Slovakian TV Journalist
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/56333

England v Slovakia: Crazy Twiin Reporting from Wembley
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/56337

England v Slovakia: Crazy Twiin Friday Press Conference 1
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/56342

England v Slovakia: Crazy Twiin Friday Press Conference 2
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/56344

MENCAP TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

LOCSP Press Release: Sunday 29th March 2009

A MENCAP football tournament was held at Score today.

More news to come...

ORIENT WIN COMMUNITY CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARD

LOCSP Press Release: Sunday 29th March 2009

Leyton Orient have won the Community Club of the Year Award at the 2009 Football League Awards.

GEORGE GREEN PITCH PRESENTATION V OLDHAM

LOCSP Press Release: Saturday 28th March 2009


George Green School from the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets took part in a half-time pitch presentation in the Orient v Oldham match today.


More news to come...

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme Education Centre makes the news with the BBC

LOCSP Press Release: Wednesday 25th March 2009

BBC NEWS SCHOOL REPORT IS COMING

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme Education Centre makes the news with the BBC

This Thursday 26th March pupils from Leytonstone School and Connaught School for Girls will be joining up with around 500 schools across the UK making the news.

The pupils have been taking part in Playing for Success, a Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) initiative in partnership with the DCSF, local authority, Football Foundation and Leyton Orient FC this term. The programme is aimed at raising achievement in literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, as well as improving self-esteem, confidence, motivation and independent learning. This term they have been participating in BBC News School Report, a BBC project to engage 11-14-year-olds in the news.

Ex-teacher and BBC News presenter, Huw Edwards, is lending his support to the project.

He says: “I'm involved because I want to give young people the chance to make the news themselves, and I want to share the principles of good journalism.”

Over the past few months the students in Year 8 have been working hard, training to be top journalists, carrying out interviews and producing reports.

Andree Selner, LOCSP Senior Education Development Officer said:

“The project works slightly differently with us as we only have access to the pupils once a week for two hours. This has given the pupils more time for planning and research.

We gave them a focus of basing their reports on an Olympic Value and had different groups focusing on different kinds of news stories. We even took part in a practice day and interviewed BBC London Sports Journalist Tom Watt!

Everybody is excited to see it all come together for the final report on March 26th.”

On Thursday at 2pm the students will be broadcasting their news, covering recent stories inspired by one of the seven Olympic values.

You can find more reports from School Reporters on the BBC website www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport

And if you would like to sign up your school for School Report 2009/2010 then you can do it here via the contact us page:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/contact_us/default.stm#register

For more information please contact Andrew McSteen, Communications Officer, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme on 020 8556 5973 or andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org

HANDBALL AND BASKETBALL FUN AT SCORE

LOCSP Press Release: Wednesday 25 March 2009

HANDBALL AND BASKETBALL FUN AT SCORE

Over 100 youngsters from Primary Schools across Waltham Forest took part in the first Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) Primary School Basketball and Handball Festival today.

Pupils from Davies Lane, Coppermill, Riverley, Barclay, Barn Croft and Woodside Primary Schools descended upon SCORE in Leyton for the festival which was a double delight for Barclay Primary School as they took the honours in both the Handball and Basketball competitions.

Alongside the competition winners there were also prizes for the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in both sports as well as the Most Sporting Person award for the participant who showed the most sporting behaviour.

That young person was Saresh, a Year 5 pupil for Barn Croft.

She said: “I have never played Handball before but I really enjoyed it – especially passing to my team mates to help them score. Handball is my new favourite sport!”

For Yvonne Missah, a Year 5 teacher from Barn Croft, the day was a good opportunity for everyone to mix and try something new.

She said: “My class have had a few sessions of Handball and have really loved it so it was good to come here and put their skills into practice against other schools.

“They tried extremely hard and really enjoyed it. Even though we lost matches a lot the pupils commented to me it was great just to take part.

“Saresh got the award for being the Most Sporting Person - she worked really well and was encouraging her team. She didn’t complain about anything and just got stuck in, working hard from the beginning to the end and never giving up.

“It’s really important to get our kids involved in as many sports as they can so they can improve their health and fitness alongside encouraging their teambuilding skills and learning to help each other out.”

For festival organiser Emma Omo-Bare, who is also the LOCSP Basketball Development Officer, the day was a great success.

“We recently conducted a Hit 4 Six cricket tournament with the same Primary Schools and they really enjoyed it so myself and Miriam, the LOCSP Handball Development Officer got together and organised this.

“Unlike Secondary Schools, Primary Schools don’t really get the chance to use fantastic sporting facilities so it was a great opportunity for these schools, which are open-minded about what sports to play, to come down and take part.

“Basketball and Handball really help with hand-eye coordination, so when these young people start Secondary School they are well-prepared.

“Everyone here really enjoyed the day and we are all looking forward to doing it again in the summer as well as our Secondary School tournament in a few weeks.”

For more information please contact Emma Omo-Bare, LOCSP Basketball Development Officer on 020 8556 5973 or email emma.omo-bare@locsp.org

‘BE SAFE’ IS THE MESSAGE IN HAGGERSTON

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 9th March 2009

‘BE SAFE’ IS THE MESSAGE IN HAGGERSTON

A group of over 20 Hackney youngsters recently attended two ‘Be Safe’ knife crime workshops at Haggerston Girls School, Weymouth Terrace as part of Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme’s (LOCSP) Kickz sessions.

LOCSP, who were recently named ‘Community Club of the Year’ at the Football League Awards, ran the workshop in partnership with Arsenal in the Community and Kickz Central.

The session was delivered in response to local issues and events surrounding knife crime with those attending mainly from the Fellows Court Estate. The workshops aimed to educate young people on the dangers of weapons, gangs and territorial issues as well as including discussions about personal safety and how to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

Yassin Abidou, LOCSP Hackney Development Officer said:

“I believe workshops like these are fundamental to educating young people about
the issues of knives and knife crime.

“I also believe it’s important to discuss, listen to and understand how young people feel about knives, carrying knives and being approached by other people with knives.

“These workshops, delivered by the excellent Bob Goldsmith of Be Safe have been a great opportunity for us to learn from each other about a really important issue of today, especially with the high levels of young victims of knife crime in London through 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

“Everyone in attendance took a keen interest as the issues discussed may directly relate to them in their everyday life.”

LOCSP run a variety of Kickz sessions across Hackney at Mabley Green, Gascoyne Estate, and Haggerston Girls School.

For more information please contact Yassin Abidou, LOCSP Hackney Development Officer on 020 8556 5973, email yassin.abidou@locsp.org or visit http://www.locsp.org/.

Notes:
1. Kickz was created by the Metropolitan Police and the Premier League and is now managed nationally by the Football Foundation who oversees Premier and Football League club community teams across the country, working in partnership with local authorities and police safer neighbourhoods teams.

2. Kickz sessions are not solely about football, although they do offer the opportunity to take part in football leagues, tournaments and coaching sessions. A core part of the scheme includes educational sessions about issues such as healthy lifestyles and the dangers of drug use and carrying weapons. The scheme offers young people in the most deprived areas the chance to take part in activities three nights a week, 48 weeks of the year.

3. Kickz offers young people (12-18 yrs) the chance to develop their talents, with opportunities for education and training. Many of those who have taken part have gained qualifications, including FA Level 1 football coaching awards. Over 400 young people in London have volunteered at Kickz projects. Many of these young people who are giving back to their communities are going on to gain employment, including some who now work for the clubs community schemes.

ELEC-TRICK 7 PITCH PRESENTATION

LOCSP Press Release: Wednesday 4 March 2009

ELEC-TRICK 7 PITCH PRESENTATION - ORIENT v PETERBOROUGH

Last night saw the recent winners of the Hackney v Redbridge receive their trophies on the pitch at half-time in the recent Orient v Peterborough match.

Congratulations to all of those who took part.

SALAAM PEACE CROSS-BOROUGH MOSQUE CHAMPIONSHIP

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 2 March 2009

SALAAM PEACE CROSS-BOROUGH MOSQUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Leyton, London – Drapers Field Leyton was the venue yesterday for the inaugural Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) cross-borough Salaam Peace Programme mosque football championship.

Over 200 young people from the six east London boroughs of Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney alongside youngsters from Coventry were split into three age groups (U12s, U14s & U18s) to compete for the honours in the ‘Diamond 4’ football concept tournament which features teams with four players on each and no goalkeepers.

Haroon Mota, Coventry Positive Futures said:

“The teams from Coventry were treated to an excellent day out and most of the lads who played had never been to a tournament before so they were really excited.

“The fact that they won didn't really matter as it was all about them coming to London and taking part in the event!”

Abdal Razak, Coventry Positive Futures said:

“We had conducted a lot of partnership work between our teams so we all felt
comfortable in coming down to London and attending this event.

“We all had a brilliant day out which was brilliantly hosted by Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme. Our thanks to all involved!!

The results were:

U12 Winners: Coventry
U12 Runners-up: Ilford Elite

U14 Winners: NLMFC
U14 Runners-up: Tower Hamlets

U18 Winners: Coventry A
U18 Runners-up: Coventry B

For more information on Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme and the Salaam / Peace initiative please contact Sab Bham, LOCSP Community Development Manager on 020 8556 5973, email sab.bham@locsp.org, or visit the website at www.locsp.org.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Salaam / Peace initiative is the brainchild of Sab Bham (LOCSP Community Development Manager) and Rashid Bhayat (Coventry Sporting Futures) and is the Positive Futures approach to tackle the Home Office ‘Prevent’ agenda.

The Salaam / Peace initiative has been developed after a number of meetings between youth and community work professionals around the country. More recently the Positive Futures National Team were invited to the Home Office to share their thoughts on how to develop a model of effective practice which would meet the requirements of the Prevent Strategy (NI 35).

There is a consistent theme where many agencies feel uneasy about the PVE agenda and the negative messages and challenges that the current framework brings. To challenge this, and provide a credible alternative that truly meets the needs of the Muslim community, in particular, young people; the Salaam / Peace initiative was born.

The programme is designed to raise the aspirations of young Muslims and ensure they continue to contribute to society as positive citizens, whilst allowing partners such as the Police, an opportunity to build positive relationships with young people.

Salaam / Peace, whose Patron is LOCSP founder Neil Watson, is the brainchild of both Sab Bham (Community Engagement Director) and Rashid Bhayat (Strategic Director).

2. The introduction to the Salaam / Peace initiative is on Tuesday 10th March 12-2.30pm at Score, 100 Oliver Road, Leyton, London. E10 5JY.

3. Special thanks to Neil Burke (Vandanel) for supplying the footballs and kit as official sponsor, B&W trophies for supplying medals and trophies, Met Police/MPA for funding the event, Waltham Forest Council for use of the venue.