It was a real pleasure to join the over 1,000 residents who came together at Crystal Palace Football Club to take part in Cut It Out - a fun, football tournament at Selhurst Park that united the community against knife crime yesterday.
The challenge was won by young people from the Premier League Kicks flagship community football programme, who welcomed the chance to pitch their skills on the Premier League club’s turf.
Cut It Out championed the goals of the council’s Choose Your Future campaign - to unite Croydon against serious youth violence and support young people to make positive choices.
The BME Forum-led event was supported by Croydon Council, Croydon Police the Palace for Life Foundation and community groups.
It was a real pleasure to support the event myself with a £1,000 donation from my councillor budget. With the community pulling together, there really is hope to defeat the scourge of knife crime. The leadership that the Croydon BME Forum has shown in this area is much appreciated, and I will do all I can to continue to work with them on their excellent community engagement efforts.
The young people’s team pitched their skills against Croydon Police, with other teams including All Inclusive Football Team, Croydon All Stars, Croydon councillors, Croydon Female All Stars, City Hall staff, the Fathers Forum, Lions Society, London Road Businesses, Neighbourhood Safety Officers, and Selhurst Community Team.
For more information on the Croydon BME Forum and the Cut It Out initiative, please visit their websites.
