SUMMER STARTS AT GOALS, CHINGFORD!

The LOCSP summer sessions started at Goals, Chingford this week!

WALTHAM FOREST BBC TAKEOVER

LOCSP Press Release: Thursday 30 July 2009

WALTHAM FOREST BBC TAKEOVER
Young reporters from Leyton Orient go to White City to learn new skills

Young reporters who are currently learning the skills on the Supporter to Reporter project through the Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) Education Centre visit the BBC’s digital learning centre in White City last week to be trained on video techniques by the professionals.

The digital learning centre, known as 21CC, has been set up to explore creative ways of using multimedia and new technology in teaching and learning across the curriculum and works with schools and community groups to drive online learning opportunities and to develop a dynamic rolling programme of innovative digital projects whilst drawing on expertise from across the BBC and beyond: from film, radio and music through to web design, digital art and animation.

Split into two groups who visited on consecutive days, the Leyton Orient students attended workshops where they planned their TV news item focusing on current sporting issues.

They learnt camera techniques, how to use the equipment (including video camera and boom) and then went out collecting voxpops – speaking to members of the public and even grabbing expert opinions from Mihir Bose, BBC Sports Editor..

Following this they edited the footage using Final Cut Pro and then used the programme Pro-Animate to create the news studio.

Watch their work here:

BBC 21CC Workshop Day 1 Video: http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/78078
Programme by Sam, Ben, William, Najaf, Raif, Nishat, Rayhill & Adam

BBC 21CC Workshop Day 2 Video: http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/78073
Programme by Anthony, Vhai, Kane, Luke, Jordan and Kurtis
For more information about Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme please call 020 8556 5973, email enquiries@locsp.org or visit the website at http://www.locsp.org/.

Notes to Editors

1. To view the Leyton Orient Supporter to Reporter Channel visit this link: http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/s/s2rLeyton

LOCSP SUMMER OF FUN IN TOWER HAMLETS STARTS TODAY

Press Release: Monday 27th July 2009

LOCSP SUMMER OF FUN IN TOWER HAMLETS STARTS TODAY
Award-winning community programme launch their summer programme

London – The award-winning Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) today launched their Summer 2009 sports programme for Tower Hamlets and the Isle of Dogs, supported by Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH), Action for Bow and the Antill Area Residents Association.

Starting today, the programme lasts right through until the end of the summer holidays (August 28th).

A variety of sports are on offer across the borough including; football, handball, basketball, tennis, cricket and lots more fun games alongside camps, activities and courses as well as an invitation-only cross-borough 7-a-side league.

The free activities take place at the Shadwell Estate Ball Cage, Hermitage Wall Ball Cage, Dinmont Estate, Ian Mikardo School/Talwin Street, Spitalfields Estate, Langdon Park School, Bigland Cage, Haverfield Green Park, George Green School and the Minerva Estate.

Kofi Mpiani LOCSP Tower Hamlets Community Development Officer said:
“We are organising a variety of free activities across the borough at different locations to ensure that everyone can come down and play.

“All of our sessions are run by fully-qualified and CRB-checked staff and we are looking forward to seeing our regular participants as well as anyone who hasn’t been to one of our sessions before but wants to play sport this summer.”

For more information on LOCSP activities this summer visit www.locsp.org/summer.html.

For more information on LOCSP activities in Tower Hamlets visit http://www.locsp.org/towerhamlets.html call 020 8556 5973, or email enquiries@locsp.org.

LOCSP SUMMER OF FUN IN WALTHAM FOREST STARTS TODAY

Press Release: Monday 27th July 2009

LOCSP SUMMER OF FUN STARTS TODAY
Award-winning community programme launch their summer programme

London – The award-winning Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) today launched their Summer 2009 sports programme for Waltham Forest.

Starting today, the programme lasts right through until the end of the summer holidays (August 28th).

A variety of sports are on offer across the borough including; football, handball, basketball, tennis, cricket and lots more fun games alongside camps, activities and courses as well as an invitation-only cross-borough 7-a-side football league.

The free and paid-for activities take place at SCORE in Leyton, Wanstead Flats and Goals in Chingford.

Highlights include a FREE Girls-Only Football Fun Week starting on the 10th August, a Spartans-Excelsior/LOCSP Basketball Camp and the ever-popular Football Fun Camps at Goals in Chingford.

Paul Motion LOCSP Waltham Forest Community Development Officer said:
“We are organising a variety of free and paid-for activities across the borough at different locations to ensure that everyone can come down and play.

“All of our sessions are run by fully-qualified and CRB-checked staff and we are looking forward to seeing our regular participants as well as anyone who hasn’t been to one of our sessions before but wants to play sport this summer.”

For more information on LOCSP activities this summer visit www.locsp.org/summer.html.

For more information on LOCSP activities in Waltham Forest visit http://www.locsp.org/walthamforest.html call 020 8556 5973, or email enquiries@locsp.org.

2009 GIRDLERS CUP SUCCESS IN NEWHAM

Girdlers Company / LOCSP Press Release: Monday 27 July 2009

2009 GIRDLERS CUP SUCCESS IN NEWHAM
Teams from across east London compete in Stratford tournament to break down barriers

Stratford, London – On the day that signalled three years to go until the start of the London 2012 Olympics, just a stones throw away from the Olympic Stadium in Newham Park youngsters from three Olympic boroughs came together to compete for honours at the 2009 Girdlers Cup.

The Girdlers Cup takes it name from The Worshipful Company of Girdlers, one of the old Livery Companies of the City of London with a history dating back to 1327. The Girdlers Company are still going strong today through their charitable trust work which benefits their local communities.

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) is one such beneficiary, working closely with Girdlers to deliver professional, fully-qualified multi-sports coaching sessions in Newham (Stratford Park, Little Ilford Youth Club), Hackney (Queensbridge Sports Centre, Lions Boxing Club) and Tower Hamlets (George Green School, Robin Hood Gardens).

Every year all the U16 participants from these sessions descend upon Stratford Park to compete for the prestigious silver cup in a multi-sports (cricket, uni-hoc, tennis, futsal, basketball, track athletics, handball) and football tournament.

The cup featured brought together participants, many of whom who had hardly ventured out of their own ward, to compete whilst representing their locality with a specially emblazoned 2009 Girdlers Cup t-shirt, highlighting which borough they were from.

Winners on the day were:

5-a-side Football Tournament
Winners Stratford Park (Newham)
Runners-up Little Ilford Youth Club (Newham)

Multi-Sports Tournament
Overall Winners Lion Club for Young People (Hackney)

Peter Trinningham, Pastmaster, Girdlers Company said:
“To see the kids here today enjoying themselves through playing sport is good to see. Everyone in life needs exercise, especially kids – and those here today have great enthusiasm.

“It’s good to get kids playing other sports as opposed to football as that is probably the first sport they want to play, but when we first linked up with Leyton Orient we were very insistent that we wanted other sports being played – different sports can not only help development such as hand-eye co-ordination, but they also give people the opportunity to try something different.

“It’s terrific to hear the kids say that if they weren’t here today they would just be sitting at home; children in the world, wherever they are, it’s really important to keep them occupied because they could get up to nonsense - which we all did!”

“We are excited about these sessions and looking to take them further and further forward.

“We are not interested in sponsoring the winner of the 100metres, we want to sponsor the children in our local areas to get into the spirit of the Olympics and this is working extremely well – everyone here today has done a great job.”

Participant quotes:

Jonathan Tony-Bugno, Newham said:
“I enjoyed today very much, the sports were all very interesting and fun - I enjoyed them all the same.

“If this wasn’t on today I would just be sitting at home doing nothing.”

Jermaine Pierre, 14, Stratford, Newham said:
“Appreciation to the people [Girdlers] who put this on today because without them we wouldn’t have the facilities and have to pay for the sessions.

“I am really enjoying today; everyone is getting together to do sports and then we will play football at the end.

“It’s an advantage to play people from other areas because all of us from Newham will stick and play together and we know how each other plays, but if we are playing other, different people we don’t know what skills they have got so we can get tested.

“I’ve also enjoyed basketball as well as football, but also got a chance to try hockey and tennis, which I liked.

“If I wasn’t doing this I would probably be at home playing X-Box or outside getting into trouble!

“It’s keeping us off the streets instead of doing stupidness, but this helps us do what we do best – sports.

“I am looking forward to it next year, with more people from more areas playing more sports.”

Neken Majek, 13, Stratford said:
“We have got really nice facilities here, ready for 2012. It’s good to do something different and enjoy a sport, particularly hockey, but I don’t normally like it.

“It was enjoyable playing this as I hadn’t done this before. Normally you have to pay for competitions but this is free, so you can take advantage of that.

“I enjoy learning new sports and the coaches here have helped us out and made sure we do them properly. I enjoy playing people from the other boroughs, I have got to know them now - it’s always good to interact.

Joel Taleybeulgo, 10, Plaistow said:
“If I wasn’t here today I would be doing boring stuff, but there are good activities here; tennis, hockey, cricket, handball, basketball.

“If I wasn’t here today I would probably be sitting and watching TV or on my Playstation, it’s been good – I’ve enjoyed everything, especially cricket as I do it at my school.”

Calvin Oumbe, 13, Plaistow (20) said:
“It’s been good today doing a lot of activities, handball and hockey are new to me.”

For more information about the Girdlers sessions at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme please call 020 8556 5973, email enquiries@locsp.org or visit the website at www.locsp.org.

Notes to Editors

1. Girdlers were makers of belts and girdles, but are now no longer closely related to their original trade; however they still have the privilege of presenting the sword belt for the Sword of State and stole for each Sovereign's coronation.

Girdlers Charitable Trust aims to:

- improve the quality of life of those disadvantaged by poverty, disability or ill health
- provide education and training support in the pursuit of excellence
- preserve or improve the physical fabric of the local community

Within these aims the Trust supports work in the following categories: Education, Welfare, Medicine and Health, Heritage, Environment, Humanities and Christian Religion (HEHR).

For more information visit http://www.girdlers.co.uk/

2. Named 'Community Club of the Year' at the 2009 Football League Awards, LEYTON ORIENT COMMUNITY SPORTS PROGRAMME (LOCSP) 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 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.

Leyton Orient - Community Club of the Year 2009: Watch our video - CLICK HERE!

Norlington School for Boys at SCORE

LOCSP Press Release: Thursday 16 July 2009

Norlington School for Boys held a sports day at SCORE today.

The day included Handball, NFL Flag Football and a whole lot more.

LLOYD’S CUP SUCCESS

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 13 July 2009

LLOYD’S CUP SUCCESS
East London youngsters compete in Community Cup

The Ashes took a back seat in London on Friday as Lloyd’s Community Programme’s annual Football Cup, in conjunction with Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), was held at SCORE, Leyton next to Leyton Orient FC.

Over 160 children from nine schools in Tower Hamlets and Hackney competed in the tournament with each school entering a boys and girls team.

The children, aged 10-11, battled it out on the pitch with each team vying for a place in the final and the chance to compete for obtaining free sports equipment for their school.

Manorfield School, from Tower Hamlets, and Millfields School, from Hackney, emerged for the final for both the girls and boys teams with Manorfield taking the honours in the boy’s event and Millfields triumphing for the girls.

Both teams were presented with the Lloyd’s Cup by Nick Furlonge, Chairman of Lloyd’s Community Programme and Director of Risk Management at Beazley.

Nick also presented the Fair Play awards to Sebright School in Hackney and Old Palace School in Tower Hamlets for displaying outstanding sportsmanship.

Volunteers from Lloyd’s and the London Market supported the schools by coaching in at the schools in the weeks leading up to the cup and then refereeing on the day.

Whilst the tournament was taking place all the schools had the opportunity to visit Brisbane Road, home of Leyton Orient FC, for a stadium tour and question and answer sessions.

James Gladwin, LOCSP Football Development Officer and coach on the day said:
“The Lloyds Cup was very successful - it went well and was a very good opportunity for young kids to come and play football here at Leyton Orient.

“It was very successful due to the fact that all the children participated and learnt something throughout the day.

“I also felt they learnt a lot from the stadium tour which was very successful as they got an understanding of the day to day running of a professional football team.’’

Natalie Marijetic, Lloyds Volunteer and member of their Risk Management team said:
"The day was a great success and the kids really enjoyed themselves.

“Having the opportunity to coach at Sebright School prior to the tournament and then take them on the day to compete against the other schools was fantastic - you get a real sense of achievement."

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme Chief Executive Neil Taylor said:
“We are delighted to have such a positive relationship with Lloyds of London and every year we run this it seems to get better and better.

“It’s also good that Lloyds have such a good relationship with the schools in Tower Hamlets and the children really seem to benefit.

“We all look forward to running this again in the future.’’

Notes to Editors

1. For more information about Lloyds Community Programme visit this link: http://www.lloyds.com/About_Us/Corporate_responsibility/Community/Lloyds_Community_Programme.htm

2. Named 'Community Club of the Year' at the 2009 Football League Awards, LEYTON ORIENT COMMUNITY SPORTS PROGRAMME (LOCSP) 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 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.

Leyton Orient - Community Club of the Year 2009: Watch our video - CLICK HERE!

REMEMBERING MICHAEL

Dream Factory Press Release: Monday 13 July 2009

REMEMBERING MICHAEL
Fundraising Day in aid of former Norlington School for Boys PE Teacher

Leyton, London – Saturday saw the annual Michael Mensah Memorial Day Charity 5-a-side Football Tournament held at SCORE with all proceeds going to the Hainault-based children’s charity Dream Factory.

Organised by Michael’s close friends and family the day was in memory of Michael Mensah who was killed in a road traffic accident three years ago in Brighton, aged just 26.

A popular man who was liked by all that knew him, Michael went to Norlington School for Boys and Sir George Monoux College and after passing his Sport and Fitness degree at Luton University returned to Waltham Forest to work as a PE teacher at Norlington, training towards working with young people in sport with disabilities.

The past two years has seen his former work colleagues at Harrods organise the tournament but this year Michael’s brother, John, took it upon himself to do something for him with the main to beat the figure of £5000 that was raised last year.

John, who is the Waltham Forest Community Development Officer for Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme used his skills to organise the tournament which featured eight teams battling it out for the honours, whilst those not playing had the opportunity to join in with face painting, bouncy castles and games.

Despite the rain trying to put a dampener on proceedings the event attracted a large crowd, there to watch the teams compete for the much sought-after MMMD Cup.

The trophy and medal presentation drink and dance followed at Leytonstone Social Club with a raffle and public auction to raise extra funds and a live band providing the audience gathered with some all the hits.

The overall total raised so far is still being calculated but you can still give money now – please contact John on 07939 366 992 or email john.mensah@locsp.org for a sponsorship form to donate.

John Mensah said:
“The whole emphasis on the day wasn’t about winning but about raising money for a good cause and bringing friends and family together for a fun day out.

“I would like to say a personal big thank you to Duaine Homer, James Ayling and Barry Wood for initially having the idea to organise something like this and for taking the time out to plan something like this voluntarily.

Also, to those of you that donated money and raffle prizes, your generosity has been greatly appreciated.

“A special thanks has to go to the team at the Dream Factory for helping out, providing activities for the children and gifts for the auction.”

Avril Mills, Trustee of the Dream Factory, said:
“The day was well organised with a good theme and despite the weather it was still a good turnout.

“The day demonstrates how much work John and his friends have put in and it’s good to see everyone enjoying themselves and contributing towards such a good cause.”

To make a donation to the Dream Factory or for more information please contact John on 07939 366 992 or email john.mensah@locsp.org.

For more information about The Dream Factory (Registered Charity Number: 1123662) visit http://www.yourdreamfactory.org/, call 020 8501 1234, email info@yourdreamfactory.org or write to The Dream Factory, South Eastern House, 62 –70 Fowler Road, Hainault, IG6 3UT.

Notes to Editors
1. The Dream Factory fulfils dreams and grants wishes for young children with severe disabilities and terminal illnesses in the UK in order to bring joy and happiness into their lives.

For more information about The Dream Factory (Registered Charity Number: 1123662) visit http://www.yourdreamfactory.org/, call 020 8501 1234, email info@yourdreamfactory.org or write to The Dream Factory, South Eastern House, 62 –70 Fowler Road, Hainault, IG6 3UT.

Waltham Forest Schools learn what 2012 can do for them

LOCSP Press Release: Tuesday 7 July 2009

Uniting Schools, Exciting Communities
Waltham Forest Schools learn what 2012 can do for them

Score, Leyton, London – Teachers from across Waltham Forest descended upon Score last Thursday for the inaugural Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) Waltham Forest Olympic Schools Conference.

Working under the banner of ‘Uniting Schools, Exciting Communities’ the conference showed how the London 2012 Olympics can benefit their educational establishments by helping them to gain an insight into the progression of construction of the Olympic Park so far, a better understanding of the Olympic Legacy post 2012 and the chance to get involved in the consultation for the site.

As well as encouraging networking opportunities, the conference also enabled those present to discuss Olympics curriculum ideas, Olympic resources and sports projects to inspire ideas. It also saw the launch of the LOCSP ‘Pass the Baton’ pledge.

’Pass the Baton’ enables schools to sign up and book a week up to July 2012 for their school to hold a whole week of Olympic activities which can be lesson-based and before or after school with the emphasis on getting parents and the whole community involved.

Throughout the day youngsters from the nationwide ‘Supporter to Reporter’ (S2R) project were on hand to take photos and videos and to ask questions of the day. S2R is currently working with LOCSP to train youngsters in media and interviewing techniques, ready to be experienced and skilled reporters for 2012. [All of their work is available on the S2R Leyton website – see Notes for Editors below].

Attendees were welcomed by Philip Rudling, LOCSP Education Manager/Deputy Chief Executive, before hearing from Andrew Martin, Education Programme Manager, London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

Jon Widdows, Sports Development Manager, Waltham Forest Council, then introduced the Waltham Forest Ambassadors who talked about what the Olympics means to the youth of the borough.

Samantha Sifah, Community Engagement Manager Olympics Legacy, London Development Agency (LDA), then talked about the plans for the site and its legacy.

Then followed two workshops for the attendees with the first based around the Olympic ‘Get Set’ educational website. This workshop aimed to get the teachers on to the website and look at how they can use it back at their school. Teachers then looked at how they could link it in with their curriculum with all their feedback and thoughts shared around.

The second workshop saw Carlo Roberts from Hackney 2012 look at the resources that they have available, particularly their ‘Personal Best’ programme. Attendees were shown a whole week-long curriculum for Primary Schools and how they can benefit from that and what else the borough has to offer.

After a break for lunch the event at Score was rounded up with a passionate speech by Natalie Fitzgerald, Development Manager, Waltham Forest School Sports Partnership about how school sports will benefit from the Olympics before all attendees made their ‘Pass the Baton‘ Olympic pledge.

All attendees then finished their day with a trip to the Olympic Viewing Platform at Holden Point in Stratford to see the progress of the Olympic Park construction site.

LOCSP have just released their 2009/2010 Education Programme booklet. For a copy of this and for more information about LOCSP Education please contact Phil or Andree on 020 8556 5973, email education@locsp.org or visit the website at www.locsp.org

Notes to Editors:

1. Quotes:

Andree Selner, LOCSP Education Centre Manager said:
“We wanted to coordinate all the schools in the borough together before the summer break so we could speak about all the resources and information regarding the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“It was great to return to the Olympic Viewing Platform after two years – it was flat then but now you can really see the site taking shape. It was the first time for a lot of teachers and being up there, rather than on site, enables you to see so much more and where things are in relation to each other.

“We had over 50 attendees from 30 educational establishments in Waltham Forest here today plus representatives from the WF Healthy Schools Team, WF Extended Schools team, WF School Sports Partnership and the City Learning Centre.

“We had some great feedback from people here today, particularly Andy Martin from LOCOG. He was really impressed by our S2R reporters and said that his workshop was really useful, as it was great to experience firsthand how people react to the website that he created.

“Overall, I am really pleased with the day and hope it has helped to enthuse schools into joining our borough-wide Olympic project.”

Samantha Sifah, Community Engagement Manager Olympics Legacy, London Development Agency (LDA) said:
“Hopefully the Olympics will raise the aspirations of children in the area. There will be some amazing sports facilities left as well as some amazing cultural and arts facilities and exhibitions.

“Of course, retail and job opportunities will exist too so even if you are not particularly interested in sport there will be opportunities available beyond the games. There is a lot to draw you into the Olympic Park; you may want buy a house there, work there or just enjoy the public open space.

“It’s great that the Olympics are in London, particularly east London and today’s event has been a perfect way to engage with important members of the local community who are going to be directly involved with the games.”

Richard Mackintosh, Teacher, Joseph Clarke School for the Visually Impaired, Highams Park said:
“I was in Australia for the 2000 Olympic Games and it will be great to experience them for the second time here in London.

“It’s been good to come here today to get a bit more of an idea about how our school can get involved with the Olympics.

“You will have the world’s best athletes here and London is good at dealing with large events so it will be a positive event for everyone.”

Desre Spencer, Teacher, Willowbrook Primary School, Leyton said:
“We have been running a lot of taster sessions for Olympic sports and assemblies too, also some of our topics in Year 4 and 5 are based around the Olympics.

“The kids are positive about the Olympics and as they get nearer they are getting more and more excited - especially about the new sports that they have not heard about.

“The athletes coming in here will have a positive influence as role models and perhaps inspire our kids to be better than they are at the moment.

“We have seen very clearly today how we can get our children more involved with the whole of the Olympics.”

Tom Howell, Teacher, Kelmscott Secondary School said:
“Our school has already had an Olympic day and we will be focussing on running more Olympic themed days in the future.

“I’m excited about the prospect of what we will have after the Olympics have visited and I’m excited about seeing some of the elite athletes here doing their thing.

“When the athletes come over we need them to influence young people to get involved with sports and teams.

“Young people won’t change just because the athletes are here – it’s about getting them engaged, keeping them busy and stopping them from being bored.”

2. For more quotes and hi-res pictures please contact Andrew McSteen, LOCSP Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973 or email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org.

3. This event was not an official London 2012 Olympic/Paralympic event and was organised independently by Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme.

4. Radiowaves/S2R links:
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73971
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73975
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73985
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73976
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73993
http://www.radiowaves.co.uk/story/73961

5. About Leyton Orient Community Sports ProgrammeNamed 'Community Club of the Year' at the 2009 Football League Awards, LEYTON ORIENT COMMUNITY SPORTS PROGRAMME (LOCSP) 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 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.

Leyton Orient - Community Club of the Year 2009: Watch our video - CLICK HERE!

LOASS ANNOUNCE NEW U12 TRIALS

LOASS Press Release: Tuesday 7 July 2009

LOASS ANNOUNCE NEW U12 TRIALS

Leyton Orient Advanced Soccer School (LOASS) are holding NEW player trials for next seasons’ U12 boys’ team.

For more information please contact Daniel Fenner, LOASS Director, on 020 8556 5973 or email: daniel.fenner@locsp.org.

CELEBRATING THE YOUTH IN REDBRIDGE

LOCSP Press Release: Tuesday 7 July 2009

CELEBRATING THE YOUTH IN REDBRIDGE
Leyton Orient showcase work in Newbury Park

Newbury Park, London – The London Borough of Redbridge Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) team hosted a celebration and presentation evening last Wednesday at the Holiday Inn hotel, Newbury Park for groups, clubs and individuals who have benefitted from the funding to present and showcase what they have spent their allocated money on.

The night featured a plethora of displays including dance troupes, rappers and beat-boxers whilst there were up to 20 stands highlighting the work the awardees do in Redbridge.

Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) were invited to showcase their work as part of their continuing partnership work with Redbridge Council through the YOF.

Thanks to the YOF funding LOCSP have been developing multi-sports sessions in the Rivenhall Estate on the Snaresbrook/Wanstead border in response to the needs and requests of the young people who live there, with the sessions named 'Skillz R Us'.

YOF funding is dependent on an initial application submitted by a young person and 14-year-old Dorian Glover who lives on the Rivenhall Estate took on this responsibility, completing the successful application.

Alongside Dorian, Saif Shah, 14 from Wanstead, was also present at the event.

Saif has been compiling the 'Skillz R Us' folder; a diary of events from its conception to current day. The folder highlights the feelings of the children on the estate and include photos and other evidence that the YOF funding is being put to good use.

Howard Gould, LOCSP Redbridge Community Development Officer said:
"It was terrific event, hosted superbly and certainly an eye-opener in respect of what work the YOF actually do.

“The diversity of talent and effort of the young people was a pleasure to witness and that obviously includes our boys who presented a fine diary and photo record of their sessions.

“We will have to re-apply soon as our funding runs out but this has spurred us all on to make sure it is another successful bid!

“The sessions at Rivenhall cater for a regular 20 local young people aged 6-15 years old who would otherwise have nowhere to go due to the lack of local facilities.

“Thankfully, agencies like YOF make it possible for these young people to participate and help with their personal and sporting development".

Photo Caption (l-r): Howard Gould LOCSP Redbridge Community Development Officer, Saif Shah, Dorian Glover and Richard Oloyede, LOCSP Community Development Coach.

For more information about LOCSP sessions in Redbridge please contact Howard Gould, LOCSP Redbridge Community Development Officer on 020 8556 5973, email howard.gould@locsp.org or visit the website at http://www.locsp.org/.

GAINSBOROUGH HANDBALL TOURNAMENT

LOCSP Press Release: Tuesday 7 July 2009

GAINSBOROUGH HANDBALL TOURNAMENT

Newham, London – Gainsborough School in Newham held a Handball tournament this week which marked the last one run by LOCSP Handball Development Officer Miriam Pupalova before her move to Denmark where she will be training with the world’s best Handball coaches for the next four months.

Miriam said:
“I have been coaching at Gainsborough for two years and they have always been excellent at Handball, winning many of the tournaments and competitions I have been running.

“They are fantastic kids and have very good hearted teachers there; I will miss them a lot.”

For more information please contact LOCSP on 020 8556 5973, email enquiries@locsp.org or visit www.locsp.org.

LCSN HARROW AND BRENT FUNDING FAIR SUCCESS

LCSN Press Release
Tuesday 7 July 2009

HARROW AND BRENT FUNDING FAIR SUCCESS
Community sports groups from both boroughs get in the know about funding

Harrow, London – Last week saw over 30 voluntary sports-related clubs and groups from across Harrow and Brent attend the Harrow Civic Centre for the London Community Sports Network (LCSN) Community Sports Funding Fair.

LCSN helps organisations within London's voluntary and community sports sector to develop and grow, so they can attract more resources and deliver better sporting and personal development opportunities to their members and communities.

The free event, in partnership with the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow and Pro-active West London Partnership, was aimed at groups who traditionally slip through the net of funding and support and offered the opportunity for them to find out more about different funding and support opportunities direct from the funders themselves.

Sport England (Small Grants Scheme), Grassroots Grants, Help a London Child, the John Lyons Charity, Middlesex FA, London Borough of Brent, London Borough of Harrow, Clubmark and the North West London Community Forum were all on hand to speak directly to those present about what funding was available and how organisations should go about obtaining it.

During the evening there were also speeches and presentations from John Lyon's Charity (Erik Mesel) and Sport England (Sangita Patel) who explained about how their funding works and is accessed.

Dylan Cox, LCSN Community Development Officer, who organised the fair said:
““The event really demonstrated the ethos of LCSN which is supporting frontline groups and giving them opportunities.

“These groups have some great ideas but they have not been able to secure funding for them either because they don’t know where the funding is or they don’t have the capacity or skills to apply for it.

“This was a way of negotiating the funding minefield for them and to help increase their knowledge of what is available to them allowing them to speak directly to funders and to find out what the funders are looking for.

“I will now have meetings with some of the groups who attended the fair and push them to complete their funding applications, therefore turning events like this into results in terms of building infrastructure and successful projects.

“I have had some great, positive feedback – and we would now like to make it an annual event.”

Manish Popat, Bessborough Cricket Club (Headstone Manor Cricket Ground), U11 and U13 Manager said:
“We are now coming to the end of the cycle for some of our facilities like our nets, and our cricket pitches need some extra help with maintenance, but all of this costs money which our subscriptions don’t cover.

“The fair has been a very positive experience for us because, as volunteers, we don’t have enough time to search out funding opportunities - you can spend hours and hours searching the internet, running up phone bills, wasting time and hitting brick walls, so having everything consolidated here in one place was great.

“This has saved us lots of time and we all have a lot of food for thought after coming here - we’ve all got a lot of information to take away and think about.”

Steeven Sharpe, Football Development Officer, Middlesex County FA
“This is just down the road for us and having opportunities like this, face-to-face are excellent as people may not believe there is assistance available and what funding there is available to them.

“It’s been good to actually put names to faces and go through with the groups how we can actually help them – it is useful to both us and the groups themselves.

“We have met a few groups I was already aware of – Harrow Stars and Londonium Athletics – and also a few groups we weren’t aware of, so it was really useful to put them in contact with the right people back at my office – particularly a few disability projects that we didn’t know about.

“I think there are some real key developments we can make in Harrow and Brent which will be fantastic for us.”

Jemima Morris, Partnership Manager, Pro-Active West London said:
“It makes a big difference having events like this which are face-to-face, rather than just sending emails back and forth.

“As an organisation it has been very useful for us to meet people as we get to learn a lot about the issues facing smaller organisations that are chasing small pots of funding regularly. We had the opportunity here tonight to discuss how they can look at being more sustainable rather than constantly thinking where their next grant is.

“The event allowed people to relax and mingle with each other asking questions as often, when you have presentations people are a bit nervous to talk up. It was a great turnout and we look forward to being invited back again.”

For more information about how London Community Sports Network can help you in Brent and Harrow please email dylan.cox@locsp.org, call 020 8556 5973 or visit the LCSN website at www.communitysports.org.uk

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

1. LCSN is hosted and run by the award-winning Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), an organisation with more than 20 years experience of delivering sports development, education and training to people across London.

2. Attendees included representatives from the following organisations:

Middlesex Cricket Board, PACE, Harrow Council, Hut Association, Watford FC, Harrow Stars FC, LOCSP, Link Up, Harrow St Mary's Cricket Club, Active Aspirations, Kensington Dragons Football Club, Insights Independent School, Active Aspirations, Harrow Special Olympics, Harrow Cricket, Streetleague, Greenhouse, LCSN, Middlesex FA, Capital Help A London Child, Official Sports, North West London Community Forum, OK Club, Ilays, Phoenix Canoe Club, FC Eagles Kosova, Edo State Women Association, Survive and Save Club, Northolt RFC, Queen Mary Sailing Club, Bessborough Cricket Club, Leisure Connection/Willesden Sports Centre, Harrow Mencap, Asian Peoples Disability Alliance, Ealing Council, Gendai Karate Association, Jesus for the World Community, Community Links, Walthamstow YMC, Harefield Academy, Londinium Athletics and Grassroots Grants.

3. Hi-res photos available upon request please contact Andrew McSteen, LOCSP Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973 or email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org.

4. More quotes available upon request please contact Andrew McSteen, LOCSP Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973 or email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org.

OLYMPIANS LEAD YOUNG SPORTS LEADERS

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 6 July 2009

OLYMPIANS LEAD YOUNG SPORTS LEADERS
LOCSP youngsters join over 200 youngsters at national event.

Four Olympic athletes led 200 young people, including Bushara Hamida from Newham and Zaq Mohammed from Leyton, both young coaches from Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP), at the first Sports Leaders UK national convention at MK Dons stadium on Saturday. (July 4)

‘Leaders for Life 2009’ took the young Sports Leaders through a range of practical activities to develop leadership skills and show paths to further education, employment and volunteering. Also on offer were work and volunteering opportunities and five scholarships to summer camp jobs in the USA.

Sports Leaders UK is the Milton Keynes-based charity that delivers sports leadership awards and qualifications for over 200,000 young people every year in schools, colleges, youth clubs, prisons and community groups. The ‘Leaders for Life’ convention is part of a development programme that boosts Sports Leaders UK involvement in community delivery of sport and physical activity.

Olympians leading the day’s activities were: Katharine Merry (400 metres), Steve Parry (swimming), Sarah Pavely (Fencing), and Brendan Reilly (high jump).

Katharine Merry said:

“There’s no difference in the skills and disciplines needed to be an Olympic athlete than to be best at college, best in education, best in the workplace.

“Hard work, dedication, teamwork, communication: that’s what sports people do on a daily basis. That’s why the Sports Leaders UK convention here today is so important because there is no line between sport and those skills for life.”

Sports Leaders UK chief executive, Linda Plowright said:

“The day was a great learning experience and a lot of fun for the all participants. For some it will offer real opportunities to further careers or widen volunteering horizons As well as creating activities for young people, we hope the convention provided an opportunity to listen to what they have to say about sport, education and employment.”

For more information please contact LOCSP on 020 8556 5973, email enquiries@locsp.org or visit www.locsp.org.

ORIENT COMMUNITY PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN FOCUS

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 6 July 2009

ORIENT COMMUNITY PLAYER OF THE YEAR IN FOCUS
O’s star Loick reflects on his award and faces tough questioning from young reporters

Leyton, London - O’s player Loick Pires took time out of his intensive pre-season training today to reflect on his Community Player of the Year Award with a group of local young people from the Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) Education Centre.

The 19-year-old winger, who recently signed a new deal at Brisbane Road answered questions from the youngsters on a variety of topics ranging from his experiences as a professional footballer, his Congolese and Portuguese heritage to current affairs such as the money involved in football and the death of Michael Jackson.

The youngsters are currently working with LOCSP on the national ‘Supporter to Reporter’ (S2R) project which aims to train the nations youngsters as sports journalists, ready for the London 2012 Olympics.

“The questions they asked were really interesting,” said Loick. “I wasn’t expecting such a variety but they really dug deep and asked questions that no-one had asked before – it makes a change from the usual questions you get around a matchday.”

After the trainee journalists had finished their Q&A, Loick reflected on his first season as a professional which culminated in the Leyton Orient Community Player of the Year Award.

The accolade, which is awarded by coaches and staff from LOCSP, was given to Loick at the clubs’ annual ‘Player of the Year Awards’ ceremony back in May and it was something that Loick was surprised, but honoured to receive.

“I had no idea I was going to win the award,” said the former Stoke City player. “All the lads at my table seemed to know I was going to get it, but when I did it came as a surprise.

“After the ceremony I went straight and showed it to my mum.

“She always said to me that when you have got something you should always share it and this is why it is important for me to work in the community.

“I am truly honoured to win this award and it is the start of a formidable partnership between the community programme and me.

“It’s something close to my heart and for me to be part of it in any way is a real honour.

“I’ve been living in the Waltham Forest area for the past three years and seen how LOCSP has an effect; it’s more than a community sports programme - it brings lots of different people together.

“If there is anything we as players can do to raise the awareness of the work they do then it can only benefit everyone connected with it.

“It’s a privilege to work with one of the best community sports programmes in the UK and I hope to do my best for them in the future.”

For more information about Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme please contact 020 8556 5973, email enquiries@locsp.org or visit their website at www.locsp.org.

Additional quotes:

Daniel Fenner, Football Development Manager, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme said:
“Loick has been a complete role model for everyone involved with Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme.

“No matter what is asked of him – interviews for the kids, education events, and community or sports development events – he always says yes and comes along and conducts himself in a personable and professional way with a smile on his face.”

“Everyone here wishes him well in the forthcoming season and we look forward to continuing our work with him.”

Neil Taylor, Chief Executive, Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme said:
“2009 is our 20th Anniversary as an organisation and with our award for Community Club of the Year we thought it was fitting to introduce this new award.

“Players can often get a negative press, but Loick particularly has gone over and above what is expected of a modern day footballer and this award is truly deserved.”