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  • 18/04/2024
Sports On Your Doorstep say children from poorer backgrounds will be hit hardest.

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Transcript
00:00 Just what you need, eh? Our lock-up's been broken into and ransacked and loads of gear
00:07 nicked.
00:08 The news no one wants to hear, let alone from a company that provides sports sessions for
00:12 some of the most disadvantaged children in Kent.
00:15 Last Wednesday's Sports on Your Doorsteps saw a break-in that led to thousands of pounds
00:19 of equipment being taken, forcing them to put sessions on hold.
00:23 The whole reason we exist is to engage young people and families in those underserved communities.
00:31 We have to take the sport right to the heart of those communities to remove as many barriers
00:37 as we can and one of those barriers is obviously cost.
00:40 And us bringing equipment and our coaching staff right at the centre of these communities
00:45 means that cost and access to provision is one big barrier that's removed.
00:50 So obviously without this equipment that allows us to pop up in those communities, it leaves
00:55 us in a difficult position.
00:58 Where I'm standing right now in this room, there would have been archery, tags, footballs,
01:02 dodgeballs, you name it, it would have been here.
01:04 Around £4,000 worth of equipment was stolen and that will have a significant impact on
01:10 the community going forward.
01:12 I think it was just disappointment and just people were upset because it's our local community
01:17 that we're trying to deliver sessions to and it's happening in our community.
01:21 It's not like this equipment is somewhere else, it's within the community that we're
01:25 trying to deliver to and it's a real shame that it's happened within our own community.
01:28 I was only talking to some children last week at a session and they asked, we were in a
01:33 town centre doing some boxing and they said "why are you here?"
01:35 So I said "oh we're here to keep you guys away from causing trouble in the local fast
01:40 food restaurants or whatever it is they're doing" and I said "if we can get you away
01:43 from that and get you to change your mindset then we've done our job" and I think unfortunately
01:49 obviously if we can't get out and engage with these people and just try and trigger their
01:53 mindsets then unfortunately they may go down the wrong path which is what we don't want.
01:57 Parents and volunteers are worried what a theft like this will mean for their children
02:01 going forward.
02:02 It helps them socialise with other children, it gets them out off the street doing something
02:08 creative, getting involved with sports that they love doing.
02:12 The coaches are amazing, they support the children in all ways that they can.
02:15 They can't now provide certain sports for the children until the equipment's replaced.
02:20 Yeah it's actually happening on your doorstep, it's heartbreaking.
02:24 The community is thinking of ways to raise funds to help replace the equipment, while
02:29 Kent Police say enquiries are still ongoing.
02:32 But with the Easter holidays coming to an end, schools may be left without the sessions
02:36 that their pupils have come to love.
02:39 Oliver Leeds of the Sacks for KNTV in Medway.

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