Carney's Community claims monthly Mayor of London award

Carney's Community has become the fourth organisation to receive a monthly £250 award from ConnectSport’s ‘Stronger Communities through Sport’ initiative with the Mayor of London.

Each month organisations across London are being asked to upload a short video which demonstrates how and why they are using sport and/or physical activity to bring people together and encourage social integration.

You can view the submissions received so far here, and get more details on how to submit an entry from your organisation.

Carney’s Community aims to reduce offending, re-offending and anti-social behaviour, whilst improving social mobility and community cohesion. It does this by engaging a range of participants in positive and constructive activities, such as free boxing fitness and Yoga sessions, alongside long-term, intensive and unconditional one-to-one support with the aim of reducing offending, improving physical and emotional health and bridging the social divide.

Manager George Carney said: "At Carney’s we engage some of the most disadvantaged members of our community in free boxing fitness sessions and mentoring.  In these sessions we help them to 'be the best they can be' and focus on their strengths and goals.

"So we are really grateful for the opportunity to promote our work on the ConnectSport platform and we’re even more excited about the funding from the Mayor of London Award, which we will put towards our fit and fed boxing sessions every Monday and Wednesday.”

Find out more about Carney's Community on its page on the free-to-join ConnectSport directory.

Carney's Community is the fourth organisation to claim the monthly award. London Otters Rowing Club picked up the first award earlier this summer, followed by ReachOut UK and Step Up 2 Fitness.

Debbie Weekes-Bernard, Deputy Mayor of London for Social Integration, described how the partnership with ConnectSport links into the Mayor’s ‘Sport Unites’ campaign.

She told ConnectSport: “We are interested at looking at using sport to tackle social isolation, to improve mental health, to create a healthier and more engaged city, but also to create some of those links and connections between people from very different backgrounds.

“We think that sport is a really good way of bringing people together, just by virtue of their love of sport – either as participants or as fans. It’s a great way for us to achieve some of the outcomes that we have set ourselves for tackling some of those big issues, like improving mental health, like helping to reduce levels of knife crime, like giving young people a sense of structure and a sense of purpose, and enabling them to learn skills which will help them become adults, and participate as adults in a city that is multi-cultural, diverse and vibrant.”

To submit your video, visit connectsport.co.uk/stronger-communities-through-sport