The Met, MOPAC and Haringey Police and Community ABC hosted the Pan-London Youth Day at Alexandra Palace for its 11th year.
The event was held on Thursday, 21 June and saw over 3,000 pupils from schools across all 32 boroughs attend the dedicated one-day event to focus on sport, employment opportunities and working with partnership services.
The day was organised to bring together young people from all of the London boroughs to one venue where they could share a common positive experience of career and educational opportunities that a number of organisations can offer and to have non-adversarial contact with sections of the Met.
The day was intended to promote cohesion amongst London’s youth and offer them a chance to be inspired by others, or gain aspiration to do what others have achieved.
Exhibitors such as the Armed Forces, London Fire Brigade, Met Police Volunteers, Thames Water, Saracens RFC and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, to name but a few, were present. The event was officially opened by the Met’s Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, head of Territorial Policing with Assistant Chief Officer Anthony Peltier of the Met’s Special Constabulary.
Officers from the Met’s TSG (Territorial Support Group), working in partnership with the Met Police Boxing club delivered boxing and coaching throughout the day. The volunteers, gave pad and bag work demonstrations and taught children the basics of boxing footwork, punches and defence. Potential boxers were then coached through pad drills in the ring and allowed to use the punch bags.
The students all took part in a variety of events provided by partnership and employment services and encouraged friendly competitions between the schools and each other. Rival students encouraged each other and at the end of the day students walked away with sports ideas, employment opportunities and an increased appreciation of the forces and emergency services.
Assistant Chief Officer Anthony Peltier encouraged all children present to consider careers in the various public services represented at the event, with a particular appeal to girls to follow in the footsteps of the Met’s current Commissioner.
Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, head of Territorial Policing, said: “I am delighted to be supporting this youth engagement day and meet those taking part. Sport is an excellent conduit to bring young people together and instil in them confidence, self-respect and discipline that can help them to make the best of their potential. I hope the makes a tangible difference to the lives of many young people.”
Detective Constable Dan Lanczi-Wilson, Director of the Met’s Boxing Club, said: “The sport of boxing is special in its capacity to act as a bridge between diverse groups of people due to its broad appeal. It’s fantastic to see it being used to reach out to children from across the capital and getting such an enthusiastic and positive response, and great fun for all the children and officers taking part.”
Organiser of the event, Police Sergeant Shawn Goodchild, said: “We are really pleased with how the event went. We have shown that with the right partnerships and community interactions, we can make a difference to young people’s lives by providing them with a recreational alternative to what’s on offer on the street.
“Another positive is that in addition to generating interest in sport, we have provided opportunities for young people who may not normally have any police contact and those who have had negative experiences to engage with the police. We have also opportunities for young people to compete and take part in sport by becoming coaches, judges and referees.
“The whole event was a resounding success and we should be proud that the Met, MOPAC and Community ABC can be seen as key stakeholders in such an important event.”
The 2019 Pan London Youth Day will be held on the 13 June 2019 in the Great Hall, Alexander Palace, N22. Should your school or youth organisation wish to attend please contact shawn.goodchild@met.police.uk