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The British Judo Trust
has awarded a £1,000 grant to Fight for Peace, a global charity
who will now launch free judo sessions for disadvantaged young
people at their Academy in North Woolwich.
Fight for Peace was
founded by former English amateur boxer Luke Dowdney in 2000 in
the Complexo da Maré, a complex of favelas (shantytowns) in Rio
de Janeiro. Since its establishment in 2000, Fight for Peace has
developed a prevention and rehabilitation model to confront the
problem of child and youth participation in crime, gangs and gun
violence within disadvantaged communities.
The charity, who’s London
Academy was opened in 2007 by heavyweight boxing superstar Wladimir
Klitschko, uses it’s “five pillar” model which includes, boxing
and martial arts combined with education, employability support,
mentoring and youth leadership to offer young people practical
alternatives to crime and violence.
The grant will be used
to deliver free judo sessions combined with personal development
and life skills sessions for disadvantaged young people in the
London Borough of Newham.
Fight for Peace will
offer four sessions a week for the next two years to 20 young
people (aged 11-18) where they will be able to access personal
development sessions covering topics such as coping with peer
pressure, nutrition, sexual health and gang awareness.
Fight for Peace London Academy
Alison McLaughlin, Fight
for Peace’s Organisational Development Manager, said: “Everyone
was really pleased to have been awarded a grant from the British
Judo Trust. It means that we are closer to being able to offer
another sport at the academy and work with more young people.
“We have been working
with the British Judo Association because we wanted to broaden
our timetable of activities, so young people would have more options.
British Judo made us aware of potential funding from the British
Judo Trust and we felt that if we were to apply and were successful
we would be able to start really working towards offering judo
as a sport at Fight for Peace.
“It is important to
have the British Judo Trust to help support charities like us.
Judo helps young people to learn new skills, whilst growing their
confidence and learning discipline in a positive way, which can
then be transferred in to other areas of their lives.
Emma Davies-Carolan,
British Judo Trust Director, said: “Fight for Peace is a great
charity who are committed to providing opportunities for disadvantaged
communities.”
The British Judo Trust
is a registered charity that operates solely off donations and
aims to support the development of the Olympic sport of judo.
If you would like to make a contribution, please visit the website
at www.britishjudotrust.org.uk.
For more information
on Fight for Peace please visit http://www.fightforpeace.net
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