Over the last 12 months, a groundbreaking Premier League Kicks project has been making a massive impact on local communities across England.
It's called the Police Partnerships Pilot and uses football as a tool to build community relationships and to engage and support referred young people who are known to the police, thereby helping to reduce the risk of offending and anti-social behaviour.
In total across seasons 2023-25, more than £500K will be invested into the Police Partnerships Pilot via the Premier League Charitable Fund, to support up to 20 club charities and police forces to build community relationships. This investment is match funded by local police forces resulting in more than £1million investment into local communities.
Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation are one of the eight clubs initially running the pilot, working in partnership with the Premier League Charitable Fund and Sussex Police to deliver targeted Premier League Kicks sessions in Crawley.
"We've always had a positive relationship with Sussex Police through our core Premier League Kicks programme but we all felt we could do a lot more," says Lynsey Hermann, Head of Community Programmes at the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation. "We had the same aims of wanting to reduce anti-social behaviour in targeted hotspots.
"Having the partnership with Sussex Police helped to identify where there were increases in that behaviour and where they wanted to have more of a presence."
From these discussions, Brighton's Police Partnership Pilot was born.
The pilot is a 10-12-week programme and begins with neighbourhood policing teams referring to Brighton young people who have come to the attention of the police, regularly missing school or contact with support agencies.
As well as having the chance to play football, participants take part in one-to-one support and mentoring focusing on subjects such as anger management, bullying, problem solving, consequences of behaviour and communication.
They also have the opportunity to meet and forge relationships with local police officers, who attend all the sessions and join in with the coaching on the pitch.
"It works because the young people are doing something fun and they're playing football," Lynsey says. "They don't realise the impact that it is having.
"A key thing for us is relationship building. The young people can talk to the police in a more relaxed setting. Seeing a police officer in the street is very different to seeing an officer who is enjoying a game of football at a Premier League Kicks session. It's a different image. They get to know the police and the police get to know them.
"There's no judgment. There's no diving into their background of why they are where they are. They're coming because we want them to enjoy the sessions, we want them to access the football, we want to work with them to be able to positively engage in things.
"Parents are there too and they can see what's going on and equally, the community can see that we're addressing an issue within that area and to build better confidence in the police."
The results have been spectacular.
In just under 12 months, crime associated with the initial cohort of 50 participants has fallen by an incredible 65 per cent.
The benefits to the local community are not only recorded in crime statistics - they are also financial. Based on the estimated costs of the programme, £3 is saved for every £1 spent.
"I'm really proud of this project because we can really see that it is making a difference," Lynsey says. "It's really powerful to see how happy and engaged the participants are.
"We can see that we're making a difference to the communities we are working in and we can see that we're having an impact on young people. We are able to be there at a prevention level so they do not go on to commit further crimes.
"One carer told me that the young person he looks after talks about the sessions all week and feels that he is in such a better place as it's fun and he can be himself. When you hear things like this you think, 'we're doing a good job then!'
"It's an extraordinary piece of work and really does show the power of football."
The Police Partnerships Pilot is part of the Premier League Kicks programme.
Funded by the Premier League through the Premier League Charitable Fund, Premier League Kicks uses the power of football and sport to inspire young people to reach their potential, in some of the most high-need areas in England and Wales.
More than half a million people have benefited to date.
