LOCSP (formerly Football in the Community) operates from offices at Leyton Orient Football Club. It was initiated in May 1989 as a three-way partnership project between the London Borough of Waltham Forest Arts and Leisure Department, Sport England and Leyton Orient Football Club. For Leyton Orient the Programme was a response to both footballs associated problems with anti social behaviour and their own dwindling attendances and for the Local Authority and Sport England it was an attempt to tackle the inequality of sports participation. It had long since been recognised that specific social groups, children and young people, girls and women, people with disabilities and the black and ethnic minority community for example, were under represented in mainstream sport.
In 1992 when money was made available for all football clubs to develop Community Programmes through the Football Trust, Leyton Orient expanded their activities into the London Borough of Hackney, again in partnership with the Learning and Leisure Department of the Local Authority. A similar arrangement was concluded in 1995 with Epping Forest District Council.
By this time LOCSP were operating an extensive community sports development programme targeted at those most unlikely to be involved in sport, many of which were living in some of the most deprived parts of the country, Hackney was then and still is regarded as the poorest borough in England. The organisation was consistently recognised as being at the forefront of community football development, culminating in it being awarded the Football Trust Community Club of the Year award in 1995.
At the same time LOCSP began to work in Tower Hamlets on a project-by-project basis, first in Shadwell, Wapping, then at Aberfeldy and Teviot in Poplar and then the Isle of the Dogs. It was the beginning of the process of project management, with each individual piece of work having its own funding, work programme, targets and reporting structures. This approach was more suited to a growing organisation, given staff were increasingly becoming more focused and skilled in their own areas of work.
LOCSP were at that time being managed by representatives of all the funding partners as an unincorporated association. This was proving problematic in terms of attracting new funding to develop projects that were beginning to present themselves. For example, many of the programmes of work that were being devised to operate on inner city housing estates needed large subsidies to overcome the two major barriers to participation; affordability and access. It was becoming apparent that to attain funding from both the commercial and charitable sectors the LOCSP would have to change its legal status.
This was agreed by the then funding partners and in September 1997 LOCSP became a not for profit company limited by guarantee with eight independent trustees. The following September the organisation was awarded charitable status, a reflection of the work that it was doing.
The partnerships that existed were dismantled and reconstructed to fit the new aims of LOCSP. These built on much of what had been successful in the past with increased emphasis on targeting those who were socially excluded from mainstream provision. In practice this meant devising appropriate programmes of activity for children and young people living on housing estates or adults recovering from drug misuse or serving probation orders. It also meant linking in to other projects delivered by those concerned with crime, health, education or employment. The appointment of our own Education Officer in 1997 was a step in this direction.
It also meant thinking more strategically about how to fund our work, what we were hoping to achieve, how we measured success and how we sustained projects. Although this was not the first time that sport had been used in this way it was for us an opportunity to build on some of the mistakes made in the past, especially in those instances where good projects had been allowed to disintegrate because the funds were no longer available or the results were difficult to analyse and understand.
The last three years have seen the organisation grow to twice the size both in terms of the number of staff employed and the annual turnover. LOCSP are now working on a number of projects with a number of partners, some of which are time bound and others that are not. Some are conceptual like Sports Club Orient and will take years to develop fully and others, like the six Single Regeneration Budget programmes we currently contribute to have an agreed deadline, which means exit strategies are now being devised.
The current programme involves organising regular coaching sessions for 5-18 year olds using a hard court area; organising local events and tournaments; training up local volunteers to participate in the sessions and offering football-coaching qualifications. This is combined with schools work where coaching and some curriculum work to primary school children is offered. Our Education Officer uses the interest in football to learn about history, geography, maths and English. After school sessions are held which combines football with literacy and numeracy. Depending on the needs of the school we focus on a specific theme or concern.
In addition programmes of work are targeted at those with a history of drug misuse or who are referred on probation orders. This involves both organising football and other sports coaching and regular matches as well as linking their interest in sport to Open College Network courses in sports photography, weight training and coaching in order to improve their employability.
A large traditional sports development programme is currently organised throughout the year both in school hours, during school holidays, weekends and evenings, which attracts thousands of participants as well as giving casual employment to approximately forty people a year. Much of the programme is presented as girls only or for children with disabilities and learning difficulties, those who may find it more difficult to access standard football coaching schemes.
The funding for our work comes from a number of different sources evenly spread between the charitable sector, the statutory sector and as part of wider regeneration programmes. LOCSP have only relied on one piece of corporate sector funding in the past although relationships with others are now being forged.
We currently have a service level agreement with the London Borough of Waltham Forest; a somewhat disjointed relationship with Hackney and an emerging one with Tower Hamlets. Local Authorities are now subject to best value legislation and it seems clear that their relationship with the voluntary sector and other service providers will change over the coming years.
What all of these projects should have in common is an agreed structure, which will only be possible when we have an agreed strategy. This three year business plan is an attempt to pin down everything we possibly can in order to achieve our aims. There of course will be a recognition that the successful delivery of projects relies on our flexibility and the changing needs of the community. However, without some point in the distance to focus on and some signposts along the way, it would be a more difficult journey than it should be.
Sports Development
The first distinct Division focuses on sports development, of which football development forms an integral part because of the association with a professional football club. This is the area of work that LOCSP built its reputation on and can be described as a traditional sports development model. It is characterised by curriculum time coaching in schools and inter school tournaments, Saturday morning five a side clubs, early evening coaching courses and a school holiday programme. The exit route created for all these foundation and participation programmes are the Advanced Soccer Schools, running in three of the four boroughs we currently work in.
Generally recipients are expected to pay at the initial point of contact; this is usually true for individuals although schools can pay through an association to an umbrella organisation, for example the Physical Education Service in Waltham Forest.
This type of programme is usually restricted to those geographical areas where there are fewer outwards signs of deprivation. This is not to say that areas where these types of programmes are run do not have pockets of deprivation or that parents/carers living in areas that are characterised by higher levels of crime, poorer housing etc. would not enrol their children on coaching courses. These areas are either selected for this type of programme because there are no regeneration programmes operating or because they have historically been successful in terms of the numbers attracted.
Our rule of thumb is that these activities operate on a break-even basis; this does not include the cost of the Football Development Officer whose post is paid for by contributions from Local Authority grant aid. Our pricing policy closely resembles that of the Local Authorities and included half price for Leisure Saver cardholders.
Current projects and areas of work include:
Curriculum Time Schools Football Coaching
Inter School Football Tournaments
Saturday Morning Five a Side Football Clubs
Early Evening Football Coaching Courses
School Holiday Football Coaching Courses
Advanced Soccer Schools
Non football sports development
Girls and Women’s programmes
People with Disabilities/Learning Difficulties
Coach recruitment:
Estates and Diversion
The second distinct areas of work are estate-based regeneration, diversion and rehabilitation programmes. LOCSP were invited to begin a programme of work on the Shadwell housing estate in Wapping in 1997. The project was to be funded through the St. Katherines and Shadwell Trust and News International as a pilot programme, running in the first instance for three years. Shortly afterwards a second project was started on the Aberfeldy estate in Poplar, funded through the government Drug Challenge Fund.
The aim was to encourage children to adopt a healthy lifestyle through regular participation in sport as well as lead sessions on drugs awareness, both during curriculum time and as part of a wider outreach programme. There was also an emphasis on targeting young adults who were recovering from drug misuse. The short-term objective was to organise football-training sessions, which complimented their treatment programme, with a view to forming a competitive team in the future.
During the following three years LOCSP began to work on other estates including Beaumont in Leyton, Teviot in Poplar, Chicksand and Fieldgate Mansions in Bethnal Green and Gascoigne, Woodberry Down and Clapton Park in Hackney. Staff to deliver these projects were employed either as a result of a wider regeneration programme (Single Regeneration Budget, Positive Futures) or through grant aid from an educational or charitable trust.
There are now some very targeted projects focused on a particular housing estate and its surrounding feeder schools funded either through a single piece of money or several smaller amounts. Community Development Officers (and the Education Officer) share their time between working in schools during curriculum time and between 4-6pm and organising outreach sessions in and around the estate. Although LOCSP have a defined programme of work in the early months it remains flexible in order to meet the specific needs of teachers, parents, children and young people. Consultation with Tenants Groups, school and users begins immediately and the introduction and development of new activities occurs organically.
Current projects and areas of work include:
Shadwell Project
Leaside Racial Tolerance Programme
Thames Gateway Skills For The Millennium Programme
Leytonstone Bridging Project
Positive Futures
Isle Of Dogs Confident Communities Programme
From Offending to Employment
Drug Referral Project
Community Network Alliance
Sports Club Orient (SCORE)
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Education & Training
The third distinct area of work is Education and Training. LOCSP were one of the first Community Programmes to employ a full time Education Officer in order to build on the schools coaching programme and offer an alternative approach to learning. The Sir John Cass Foundation originally funded the post and as a result work was restricted to schools based either in Tower Hamlets or Hackney. However, funding has now been secured from Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, an investment bank who are less restrictive on the geographical nature of the work; this allows for a development of the programme into Waltham Forest and Barking and Dagenham.
The Education Officer has developed and supported a number of projects during the first three years depending on the needs of individual schools and their pupils. However, Learning Through Football, a key stage 2 project focusing on numeracy and literacy, has been regarded as core business.
Current projects and areas of work include:
Learning Through Football (LTF)
Study Support Centre
Healthy Lifestyles Programme
Citizenship Programmes
Adult Education
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