In April 2014 a partnership was formed between Shropshire Council’s Young People’s Substance Misuse Team, Oswestry Boys and Girls Football Club and Shropshire Council’s Sports Development Team, who together organised a football project for young men aged 14 – 25 years old.
Using local insight the project was able to overcome identifed barriers that may have prevented the targeted participants from being involved these included timing and location of sessions, equipment and financial considerations and emotional support.
The project has been described as innovative and inspirational by the Head of Young People’s Services because research suggests that bringing substance misusers together in a group can be detrimental to their rehabilitation and can present a captive audience for buying and selling drugs. This project broke all the rules and proved that sport can bring together hard to reach individuals, engaging them in physical activity rather than substance misuse. For more information please click here Energize Substance misuse football.pptx