Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP) is a leading community-based charity operating since 1989. The overall aim is to engage with and access young people living across Northeast London who are traditionally excluded from mainstream sports, leisure, and education opportunities.
LOCSP runs a range of innovative and creative sports and educational projects in Waltham Forest, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham, and Epping in partnership with a range of agencies from local authorities, regeneration agencies, youth offending teams, and schools to Connexions, London’s Trusts and the Home Office.
Community Development
They have been delivering and developing estates and area based diversionary programmes across North and east London since 1997. We currently run programmes in Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham and Barking and Dagenham offering a range of sporting and educational activities. We tend to work in cluster areas where we offer a comprehensive offer of school, after school and community based sessions.
This combines delivering education and sport programmes which lead to the creation of competitive playing opportunities. Through this work we also look to create the next generation of coaches by recruiting from the local areas and integrating them into our delivery programme.
They have also established strong local networks and partnerships ranging from professional service providers such as schools, Youth Offending Teams, Drug Action Teams, youth crime diversion agencies and youth workers through to neighbourhood management forums, Housing Associations and the community and voluntary sector.
Estate Based Sport
A fundamental element of the work that LOCSP does is the estate – based sports programme. Coaching sessions take place in ball cages on local estates and in local parks and in facilities close to densely populated housing estates in places such as schools and community halls.
These sessions are aimed at 12 to 18 year olds and take place across parts of Waltham Forest, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Barking & Dagenham.
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Sports that are on offer include:
- Football
- Basketball
- Tapeball Cricket
- Athletics
- Tag Rugby
- NFL Flag Football
- Disability Sports
- Netball
- Futsal
One of the most recent initiatives to evolve from the estate-based programme is the Inter-estates football league. Players aged 12 – 18 can take part in this local 5-a-side football competition that lasts 5 to 6 weeks with the winning team being invited to play in a grand final tournament at SCORE. The league runs during the academic term time, with the finals usually taking place in the first week of the school break.
In addition, holiday sessions also run in the areas where the LOCSP estate – based take place during term time. Young people aged 12 – 18 can take part in coaching sessions and tournaments in parts of Waltham Forest, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking & Dagenham.
Inter – estate sports tournaments will also be held at SCORE with teams playing against each other from these five neighboring London boroughs.