Quinton Football Tournament and Family Day

The weather couldn't have been better for today's Quinton Football Tournament and Family Day. What an excellent event, enjoyed by everyone. Special thanks to those who organised it, especially former Councillor Jane James (pictured with me and Cllr Len Clark).

The Challenge In Action

The Challenge's Quinton Road Safety Campaign was out in force today, advising motorists to slow down around an important and busy local roundabout. I joined them in support of their campaign, and we've come up with a few ideas as to how I can help in other ways.

Young people often have a bad reputation with older generations - this has probably been the case since the dawn of time. When I was 16, if the press were to be believed, we were all watching video nasties, ram raiding shops and going to illegal raves. Today's event just goes to show that the reputation of young people is not well-deserved; the group I met were enthusiastic, respectful and fully engaged in their community. Long may it continue.

Have You Got What It Takes to be a Games Maker?

Today sees the launch of the London 2012 Games Maker programme. If you'll be 18 or over by 1st January 2012, you can volunteer to be a Games Maker - the Young Games Maker programme is coming in 2011 for younger volunteers.

This is your chance to be involved in something very special and historic. And this isn't just an opportunity for Londoners - for example, some of the football matches will be played at Coventry City's ground. Here's a map of all of the venues.

Get registering at http://is.gd/f8fMX.

Quinton Football Tournament and Family Day Coming Soon!

Don't forget that the Quinton Football Tournament and Family Day will take place on Saturday 25th September from 11am until 3pm at Tennal Park, off Tennal Lane.

The main activity will be the 6-a-side ‘World Cup’ for local schools, but there'll also be:

• Under 5’s Corner
• Face Painting
• Words on Wheels Bus
• Health Bus & Health Checks

The following stalls and services will also be there:

• Local Police
• Local healthcare
• Fire Service
• Children’s Centre
• and many others

For further information, please telephone Sophie Keene, Neighbourhood Manager, on 303 4989, Ken Brown, Ward Support Officer, on 303 2501 or Jo Reeves, Safe Haven Officer, on 626 6054.

The Challenge - Part Two

I returned to Four Dwellings High School today to talk to another group of 16-year-olds doing The Challenge. This group wanted to campaign to reduce alcohol consumption and consequently crime in Quinton. Again, we discussed a few ideas about how I could help. So I'd better get on with it!

Supporting The Challenge

Today, I was very pleased to meet with a group of 16-year-olds who are all doing The Challenge, which takes place in the summer after Year 11.

The programme consists of lots of different activities, including some you design yourself. It lasts two-and-a-half weeks full-time during the summer, plus four days over the following five weekends.

This particular group has decided to campaign around road safety in Quinton, which is something that the local Councillors and Police have been working hard to improve over the last few years. We talked for about an hour, exchanging ideas about how they could campaign and how I could help. They were also interested in what being a Councillor is really like, so maybe we'll see some of them in the Chamber in a few years.

It was great to see some young people engaging so positively in such an important topic, and I wish them well in their campaign.

If you'd like to find out more about what this group are doing, please visit their website (http://qrsc.blogspot.com/) or follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/QRSChallenge).

For more details, about The Challenge in general, please visit www.the-challenge.org, call on 020 7921 4203 or text on 07503 849738.