2008 Boys Eid Cup Presentation

LOCSP Press Release - Saturday 17 January 2009

The Orient match against Bristol Rovers saw a half time presentation for the winners of the 2008 Boys Eid Cup.

The tournament featured two football competitions for U18s and U14s and took place at Score with Waltham Forest winning at the U18 level and Tower Hamlets at the U14 level (for more information please see www.leytonorient.net).

Both teams dined in the Olympic Suite prior to the match and at half time received their respective trophies on the pitch from Phil Poole and Inspector Pippa Mills from the Metropolitan Police (Hackney) and Sergeant Steve Falconer (British Army).

As part of the Salaam Peace initiative, the Eid Cup, which started in 2007, is a national established sports tournament for boys and girls and today also sees the pre-launch of the Salaam Peace National Community Engagement Programme by Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), Positive Futures and Youth Solutions.

Salaam Peace, whose Patron is LOCSP founder Neil Watson, is the brainchild of both Sab Bham (Community Engagement Director) and Rashid Bhayat (Strategic Director). The Salaam Peace Programme addresses the Home Office Agenda on PVE (Prevent Violent Extremism) using the Positive Futures model.

The match also saw partners such as the Metropolitan Police, Army, Hackney Homes, City of London Corporation, V Team and Diageo in attendance.

The Salam / Peace programme 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; Salaam / Peace was born. The project 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.

The full launch of Salaam / Peace will take place on Wednesday 18 February, with the next Eid Cup for Girls on the same day as the O’s take on Walsall here - Saturday, March 21st and the next Eid Cup for Boys towards the end of the year.