Brixton youngsters will benefit from a £14,500 charity funding and support from football star Rio Ferdinand.
The money will be used by the charity Active Communities Network to run more free sports sessions at the Canterbury Gardens sports area, Brixton.
Barclay’s Spaces for Sports (BS4S) has given the project £7,000 and the Laureus Sport for Good has given £7,500. Rio Ferdinand’s Live the Dream Foundation will also deliver sports sessions and tournaments at the site.
Ferdinand, England and Manchester United Footballer, said: “Providing affordable training sessions on good facilities such as the Canterbury Gardens multi-use games area is so important in helping young people develop their skills and realise their ambitions and I hope that we are able to help change many lives.”
He added: “Growing up in south London, I am aware that it can sometimes feel like there are a lack of opportunities in the local area but football was able to open up so many doors for me and I hope it can help inspire many others.”
The new funding for the Active Communities Network follows a BS4S development grant worth £25,000 in 2010, which allowed a sports-based social inclusion programme to run across the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. Activities were delivered during evenings and peak times of anti social behaviour to reduce the amount of crime committed by young people.
