A Basingstoke ‘beat the boredom’ initiative will be rolled out today at the launch of a summer activities programme for youngsters.
Summer Streetz returns to the borough with free activities for 11 to 17 year-olds in Brighton Hill, Buckskin, Oakridge, South Ham, Tadley and Whitchurch. The initiative aims to stop boredom spilling over into community nuisance. National children’s campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder and director of Kids Company, will be attending the event, which is being sponsored by biophamaceutical company Shire, who have pumped £15,000 into the scheme, which is also supported by Sovereign Kingfisher, the borough council and more.
Jessica Mann, from Shire, said: “Shire is committed to helping patients with life-altering diseases to lead better lives. “Summer Streetz will be exciting and fun for young people in the Basingstoke area and we are very pleased to provide funding to enable the programme to be expanded and run for at least the next three years.”
And Cllr Clive Sanders, cabinet member for Communities, Sport and Leisure, commented: “Summer Streetz offers young people fun and challenging activities and the chance to try out something new during the evenings in the long summer holidays. For their local communities the bonus is that this also means stopping boredom turning into ant-social behaviour. The expansion of the scheme this summer is thanks to a true partnership of local public services and community organisations with the backing of Shire as a major local employer wanting to give its support to young people in the area. The most important part is that the young people are also getting involved, working together with our community development team to say what activities they want to see, and even taking a hand in setting them up and running them.”
Carol Williams, managing director of Sovereign Kingfisher, said: “Sovereign Kingfisher is really committed to working with partners to help prevent anti-social behaviour, encourage young people to be active and also help the younger generation to participate in worthwhile community activities. We are really pleased to be working in partnership with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and other local agencies to offer an exciting programme of Streetz activities.”
The full programme is available at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/go/streetz
