On our marks and set to go!
Statement from Met-Track CEO
Met-Track founder and Chief Executive Officer, John Powell MBE, wishes everyone associated with the project a safe and healthy time through the current unprecedented national crisis. The project was suspended immediately the Prime Minister ordered that schools across the country close until further notice.
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Met-Track and the Coronavirus Outbreak
As a result of the latest announcement from Government that all schools will be closed as of Friday 20th March, all Met-Track sessions have had to stop until further notice. I realise this is a huge blow to a lot of people, not least the young people we work with, their teachers, parents, and the coaches who have so tirelessly delivered over the months and years of our existence.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan Rejects Met-Track For a Third Time
Met-Track CEO, John Powell MBE, has expressed his profound disappointment at the charity's application for support from the London Mayor's 'Young Londoners Fund' being rejected for a third time.
One of the most successful projects of its kind in the capital, whose vast experience over more than 15 years in turning round the lives of thousands of young Londoners, must now face the potential reality of closure in 2020. |
Tashan Daniel 1999-2019Met-Track were offering sincerest condolences today to the family of 20-year-old Tashan Daniel, brutally stabbed to death in London yesterday. Coached by Met-Track's Josh Swaray, Tashan was a member of the scheme in Hillingdon, and had made huge positive strides in his life under his tutelage.
Tashan's family had repeatedly told Josh how he had become such a valuable role model in Tashan's life, improving his self confidence, and opening up a wholly positive take on his future. He only celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday. |
First Edition of Jack Petchey Achievement Awards with Met-TrackAfter a successful application to the Jack Petchey Foundation, 11 Met-Track sessions were selected to nominate a participant for the Jack Petchey Achievement Award. Each sessions winner would have £250 to spend on a trip for the group or equipment that would benefit the group at large.
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Charles Darwin Met-Track Participants Compete at West Kent Schools
Pupils from Charles Darwin Academy competed in the West Kent School Athletics on April 25thMet-Track coach for the scheme Aidan Syers was in attendance to support them at the event. Aidan said “It was great to see them compete and put into practice some of what we’ve done in the sessions. It’s not just the physically taking part but also psychologically for their confidence and doing something outside their comfort zone. I’m really proud of them all.”
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MPS Commissioner Gives Met-Track Approval“The Metropolitan Police Service are proud to be a partner of Met-Track - a project that has been changing the lives of vulnerable young Londoners over many years now.
“Sport is the hidden social worker in our communities and is a hugely powerful medium to engage our young. Met-Track is very effective in achieving just this, contributing toward making London a safer place in which to live and work.” |
Met-Track Official Launch Highlights Impact of Improving Life ChoicesThe official launch of Met-Track as an independent charity was a huge success at City Hall London. Lord Sebastian Coe and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner headed a distinguished delegate list. Included in the audience were also young people from the project's Hammersmith scheme at the TLG school - all made emotional confessions on how Met-Track had altered their lives for the good and how impactive coach Josh Swaray had been.
A presentation led by CEO John Powell MBE outlined the history of the project, what it achieves, and headlined the phenomenal rate of over 95% of young people engaged with the project now not offending or reoffending. He also was emphatic that "the clock is ticking" and that the project urgently needs funding to supplement the slowly reducing BIG Lottery Fund money before 2020 or the project could close. |
Seb' Coe to Head Guest List at Met-Track LaunchAn official launch event at City Hall, London, next month, will see Lord Sebastian Coe head an all-star guest list as Met-Track celebrates becoming an independent charity.
The event, scheduled for Tuesday December 11th, will also feature the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick CBE QPM along with a number ion sports coaches, athletes and young people. |
Scheme Director John Powell receives prestigious award for his years of voluntary work in the communityMet-Track Scheme Director, John Powell, has been included in the annual London Borough of Bromley Mayor's Honours Awards for his wide-ranging voluntary work, including his role in this project.
Having been notified of the honour last month, he attended a ceremony at the Bromley Civic Centre on Thursday 15th March, and was presented with the honour by Mayor Councillor Kathy Bance MBE. |
Role Models Whatever The WeatherMet-Track takes great pride in offering first class sports coaching and mentoring by some of Britain's best as excellent role models for young Londoners, and the involvement of two coaching staff in the recent Winter Olympics was a classic example.
Although not involved in the medals, Met-Track coaches Montell Douglas and Greg Cackett both represented Team GB in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They were both involved in Great Britain's bobsleigh teams, using their strength and speed inherited as experienced track athletes over past years. |
TSG Workshop at Hammersmith SAFE CampThe TSG team came to visit the Hammersmith Safe Camp where Met-Track have been delivering sessions form 10am-4pm throughout August. The young people at the SAFE camp were given the opportunity to partake in various role-play scenarios and try out what it's like to be a member of this division of the police.
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TSG Visit Helps Breakdown Young People PerceptionsThe pupils at Nightingale Community Academy had an afternoon of workshops and scenario role plays delivered by the Territorial Support Group (TSG). These were delivered to break down the preconceived perceptions of the work the Police do and why they do it.
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Great Atmosphere at Hammersmith Safe CampOver the May/June half-term Met-Track alongside Access Sport, Let Me Play, London Sports Trust and QPR delivered sessions at Phoenix High School as part of the Safe Camp run by Hammersmith Police. The young people taking part got to experience a variety of sports including Athletics, Basketball, Bmx riding, Kayaking, Football and Trampoline gymnastics amongst other activities.
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Met-Track Participants Inspired by Coaches London 2017 World Championships AmbitionsParticipants from Met-Track sessions all over London have been inspired to start competing in athletics after learning from their coaches and mentors. The journey that the coaches have been through is relatable to so many of the young people who take part in the sessions which is one of the reasons why Met-Track has been so successful for over 10 years.
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Met-Track Participants Go To The RacesMet-Track participants from St. Catherine's Catholic School for Girls took part in their first athletics competition on Wednesday 18th January. They competed in the 60m at the Crystal Palace Open against athletes of clubs from all over London, the girls performances were impressive an especially considering they had never been in a racing environment like this before.
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Met-Track Participants Meet the Met's FinestCrystal Palace National Sports Centre played host to members of the Metropolitan Police Territorial Support Group on Tuesday (17th January), as they introduced local young people to the sharp end of policing London.
A squad of Met-Track hopefuls who train there under the tutelage of Scheme Director and coach John Powell, alongside his Trackspeed1-UK athletics squad, were treated to an up-close look at how London’s police deal with some of the most dangerous situations they can face. |
Met-Track's new Executive Board and Coaches Forum set the tone with clear direction for 2017Met-Track's new lease of life for the coming four years has hit the ground running in the new year with the inaugural meeting of its Executive Board at City Hall, London on Monday (9th January). This was then followed by a coaches conference hosted by lead partner, the Metropolitan Police Service, in Charing Cross Police Station yesterday (Wednesday 11th).
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Met-Track coach Josh Swaray reports on TLG Awards NightMet-Track coach Josh Swaray has been delivering sessions at the TLG Hammersmith Centre since the beginning of this academic year. The school and the pupils have taken to Josh responding well to his sessions and mentoring advice, as a result of this he was invited as a special guest to the TLG group awards night on Thursday 24th November.
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Met-Track looking forward to 2017As 2016 nears its end, Met-Track is in the process of moving into a new dimension, with a new management structure, and new partnerships set to drive the project into 2017 and beyond.
One of the most successful youth diversion schemes in the country now, Met-Track’s new lease of life thanks to the BIG Lottery Fund’s new grant, which runs until 2020, will see its new Executive board meet early in the New Year, along with a revamped Performance Review Group. |
Revisiting Met-Track's source of inspiration 11 years onMet-Track Scheme Director and Founder, John Powell MBE, returned this week to the very source of the inspiration that had him devise Met-Track back in 2005 as a then London Police Superintendent.
He met with officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in Downtown LA, who currently champion their Juvenile Impact Programme (JIP) - the scheme that John used as the initial template for Met-Track. Although a very different format to the London project, he emerged from the meting all smiles with several ideas to bring back for potential implementation at home. "It was a really productive meeting," said John. "Our schemes are very different in format, but identical in terms of what we want to achieve, and many of the principles on which JIP operates illustrate common ground with Met-Track. |
Met-Track success story now graduating from universityBukola Woodburne-Dyer celebrated a momentous achievement recently as she graduated at the University of Kent, with a 2.1 degree in sports therapy. It was a pretty far cry from around 8 years ago when she entered the Met-Track scheme as a young person lacking focus, and in danger of ending up in the wrong crowd! Instead she can now look forward to a positive and exciting career. She already works with a leading semi-professional football club, and aspires to go right to the top.
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Met-Track awarded prestigious 'Project Oracle' certificationAs Met-Track nervously awaits the verdict from the BIG Lottery Fund as to whether they have successfully been granted a further four years' funding, the project was awarded another accolade by a third party organisation.
Project Oracle is London’s first children and youth evidence hub, managed by The Social Innovation Partnership and London Metropolitan University. Having completed various assessments relating to the work Met-Track has been conducting across London, Project Oracle has awarded the scheme with their level 1 certification. With very few projects receiving certification, it is a notably achievement for the project to receive recognition for the work it delivers around the capital. |
Met-Track expansion on the horizonWith constant reminders of the ever present threat of terrorism these days, the value of schemes that prevent more young people falling victim to radicalisation cannot be over-stated. This is the main thread behind Met-Track's aspiration to expand its target age group from September 2016.
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2016 on track to see biggest successes ever
Met-Track has launched its “Vision 2020” with an application to the BIG Lottery Fund that Scheme Director and Founder, John Powell MBE, hopes will catapult the scheme into another four years of rip-roaring success!
With Met-Track now in its eleventh year, it is hoped that the application made to the BIG Lottery Fund for a further four years’ support will be successful, and see its vision of entering a third decade realised. |
Where are they now? Met-Track 10 years on - Dwayne GrantAs a mere ten-year-old South Londoner, Dwayne Grant found at an early age just how inspiring athletics could be. It wasn't until many years later that he began transferring his experience into coaching with Met-Track, which finally set him off towards a career and a future he would not have dared dream about as an adolescent.
As an athlete, Dwayne was immensely successful, winning domestic honours throughout his teens, and joining TeamGB in the Olympic Games, in Athens, in 2004. Thereafter for life an 'Olympian', he was attracted to a scheme founded in 2005 working with young people with a similar background to his own. |
Where are they now? Met-Track 10 years on - Jason HussainThe first of a series of case studies that reflect on the impact Met-Track has had on the many thousands of individuals it has engaged with over its 10-year history, begins with the man who was recruited to help run the scheme back in 2007.
Jason Hussain was anything but an 'errant youth' engaged in anti-social behaviour or offending. He was training as an athlete, but lurching from one part-time job to another with no real career plan in place, and a CV that badly needed developing. He and the many coaches who have worked with the scheme represent the flip-side of the project's impact - providing a vehicle toward a positive and successful future for them too. |
Bexley Sessions Start With Lots of InterestSessions at St Catherine's school have been very popular with the students since resuming this September. Scheme Manager Matt Threadgold has been in attendance for a number of sessions this year to lend his help in a coaching capacity, he said "It's great to see the girls have taken to athletics, they are really keen to learn about sport and tryout all the different track and field disciplines."
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Met-Track Coaches In Action At UK ChampionshipsDan Bramble lead the way for Met-Track coaches competing at the UK Championships in Birmingham over the last weekend (July 3rd, 4th & 5th). Dan booked his place on the plane to the World Championships in Beijing by finishing second in the Long Jump behind Olympic, European & Commonwealth Champion Greg Rutherford.
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Met-Track Goes GlobalMet-Track has inspired a London detective to suspend his career and travel the globe, inspiring young people from Europe to Asia, Australia to South America, on the virtues of sport as a means toward a positive future.
So impressed was Julian Seal with the virtues of the London-based scheme, he decided he wanted to spread the word to young people the world over, and has just returned from a two-and-a-half year trip he has aptly labelled 'Sports Trek'. |