Colchester: Gym team helps to keep ex-cons clean

7:00pm Friday 10th October 2008

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Two volunteers have been praised for setting up a gym group for young offenders.

The scheme at High Woods Sports Centre, in Colchester, for 13 to 18-year-olds released from custody, has been hailed a success by the Home Office.

It was set up by Colchester-based volunteers Nikki Sienkewitz and Rob Downes, of Essex Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Service (EYPDAS).

It helps bridge a gap between the amount of sport on offer to youngsters in detention and that available on release.

Now it is being copied in Harlow with plans to roll it out across the county also in the pipeline.

Miss Sienkewitz said: “When released from custody, some young people swiftly lapsed out of the routines they had built up in custody.”

She said the gym sessions, which include a personal workout programme, have taught the youngsters independence and self-belief as well as helping them avoid drugs and alcohol.