Forest Town sports day hosted by the police to tackle antisocial behaviour

Officers from the Mansfield neighbourhood policing team joined forces with several local clubs to provide free taster sessions at Queensway Park, Forest Town, on Tuesday afternoon.

The session, held between 12pm and 4pm, was designed to tackle antisocial behaviour by building better relations with local youngsters, the police and organised sports clubs.

Exhibiting organisations included:

*Mansfield Town Football in the Community, who were in attendance with their speed tunnel, an inflatable tunnel complete with Radar Gun to measure the velocity of kicks. Prizes were awarded throughout the day for people who record the highest scores

*Omega Fitness – a local gym who were giving a strength and fitness taster to attendees

*Switch Up Boxing academy – a local boxing club currently setting up in Mansfield having worked wonders in Nottingham City. Participants were invited to meet the team and also take part in the fast and furious 30 second punch challenge

*Phoenix Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Fitness – whose members offered a taster session into Jiu Jitsu, Olympic Wrestling and mixed martial arts.

Attendees were also able to enjoy cut-price food from a wood-fired pizza van, thanks to a generous donation from Mansfield District Council. The ASDA supermarket also contributed fruit and bottled water for the day.

Event organiser and Forest Town beat manager PC Colin Bland said: “Like many other areas, Forest Town does experience some antisocial behaviour from young people. When we speak to them they often tell us that they are bored and lack things to do.

“But Mansfield really is a goldmine for great sports clubs and other community groups who are doing fantastic work with young people every day of the week.

“The aim of this event was to bring them into contact with each other in a fun and relaxed environment. A secondary benefit is of course to show a more human side of the local policing team and break down some of those barriers that exist.

“I was really pleased with how the day went and would like to thank everybody for taking part. The weather was pretty kind to us in the end and this is definitely something we will be looking to do again later in the year.”