Where it began

      
 

The Lewisham Sports Consortium was established as a constituted voluntary organisation in June 1998, became a Company Limited by Guarantee (November 2001) and a registered Charity in May 2005. The board of trustees are volunteers with experience of running sporting activities for all age groups. There are currently no paid workers; all the work done is on a voluntary basis.

The group originally came together because of a lack of open space and places to play football and other sports in the Borough of Lewisham. In addition there was concern about the lack of access to provision and disadvantage suffered by sports people in the Borough who are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The group first worked successfully with the Council to bring back into use Summerhouse Playing Field, which was managed by the Consortium until the Council contracted out all its parks and green spaces to a commercial company.

However, the group was later invited to put forward proposals (along with other voluntary groups) to develop one of four vacant sites for sports. Firhill playing field was offered to the Consortium following due dilligence and a long application process.

  
         
 

Organisational Objectives

    
 

The main purposes of the organisation is to benefit the community, in particular targeting people from the Black and Minority Ethic (BME) community residing in the London Borough of London of Lewisham. This includes; -

Providing and assisting in the provision of facilities for sport, recreation or other leisure time activities.
Advancing public education, in particular the education of children and young people through the provision of education and training programmes. The programmes will include physical and mental training activities designed to improve their social, moral and intellectual development designed to meet their needs and the needs of the wider community.

The main focus of the work done by the Consortium relates to the Firhill Sports Field project. The project provides a focal point and base from which the Consortium delivers sport and physical activities to the community as a means of addressing wider social aims. In particular, school education support, health and physical fitness, social and community cohesion, coaching education and training, self-development, good citizenship and developing BME social and economic capital.

  
         
 

Partnerships

 
  The Consortium works in partnership with the Borough Council, the Bellingham Youth Forum, JUMP, the local police and Lewisham Envirowork.

A key part of the project is to employ a worker to develop these partnerships and others to ensure that local people and wider community receive maximum benefit from the facility.