Levelling the Playing Field: Newport Live showcases effective practice to youth justice partners across Wales
Effective practice developed by Newport Live Positives Futures, which formed a key part of the ‘Levelling the Playing Field’ (LtPF) project, has been showcased at an influential Youth Justice Board (YJB) event for stakeholders and partners across Wales.
Between 2020 and 2023, Newport Live – the charitable trust which oversees sporting, leisure and cultural activities in the South Wales city – led the co-ordination of the LtPF project in Gwent, in parallel with three other areas – London, West Midlands and South Yorkshire. Overall the project was overseen by the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice and funded by the London Marathon Foundation, and saw than 100 partner organisations engage with 35,672 children and young people in sport-based interventions, with 63% of them ethnically diverse.
According to research published by the University of Birmingham in April 2025, the project could be a ‘gamechanger’ in terms of understanding the over-representation of ethnically diverse children in the Youth Justice System, and their under-representation in sport and physical activity.
The YJB’s ‘Hwb Doeth Ethnic Disparity’ online event focused on disproportionality and ethnic disparity, and the team from Newport Live Positive Futures spoke about their work and the essential ingredients needed to deliver an appropriate offer for young people from ethnically diverse communities.
EFFECTIVE
The online event was attended by Youth Justice and Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across Wales, from Pembrokeshire to Wrexham, and Lucy Donovan (pictured above), who is Positive Futures Development Manager for Newport Live, explained: “The meeting specifically focused on disproportionality and celebrated effective practice.
“At Newport Live, our day-to-day engagement is with vulnerable and under-represented communities and individuals – especially those ethnically diverse communities that are prevalent in Newport – and in particular young people living in areas of deprivation with a lack of opportunities.
“We build relationships within communities. This was the key message at the meeting from ourselves; the LtPF project isn’t some bolt of lightning or a great new idea, it’s what we have been doing in communities for a long time.
“We know first hand that building trust and relationships is a priority within diverse communities. Many have had challenging experiences with authorities, so it’s about being present, being in the community, and offering something through sport that is non-judgemental. That’s how you will get buy-in from the community.”
PARTNERSHIPS
The Newport Live Positive Futures team also helped to host the launch of the research in April. At the launch, YJB Chair Keith Fraser described the project as a “beacon of hope” for vulnerable young people and called on national sports councils to step forward and support it.
Lucy reflected: “What the LtPF project did was bring people together and create that dependability. Whether you are a statutory or voluntary service, we have got some young people in really difficult situations. Behaviours can be complex and challenging, but often it’s because of what they have been through. So partnerships need to pull together to help address the needs of communities.
“And if the systems aren’t fit for purpose and not set up to support them properly, then they don’t have the same ‘starting line’ as others will have. For example a young person from a Roma background, whose family perhaps don’t have much money or are unlikely to access services, can be easily exploited.”
The YJB, which oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales, provides advice to the Secretary of State for Justice, and promotes effective practice to prevent youth offending and re-offending. Lucy echoed the call from YJB Chair Keith Fraser for policy-makers and funders to back the LtPF model.
“We will keep doing what we do in our communities, but we do need partners to be listening and understanding why some of these issues keep occurring with particular families or individuals. Diverse communities can be identified later in the system linked to more serious crimes, so we need earlier identification opportunities.”
Find out more about the Levelling the Playing Field project:
Read summary report, research report and print-ready infographic.
Find out more about the HwB Doeth Ethnic Disparity event (July 2025).
