A groundbreaking community social awareness scheme run in conjunction with staff from Trent Bridge has won a prestigious award.

Nottinghamshire were named as the winners of the emda Enterprise Award at the BBC East Midlands Sports Awards last night after two members of staff took part in the ‘Say Yes’ Challenge in Nottingham.

The project was launched in April at Trent Bridge with the aim of getting youngsters from the Bulwell area to identify anti-social behaviour problems in the area and find solutions to address the problems.

The scheme was driven by the Victoria Centre in a joint initiative with Crime Concern, with Notts Business Development Manager Mark Worrall and Hospitality Co-ordinator Wayne Marchant acting as mentors for 40 members of Bulwell YIP over the course of the summer.

And their guidance and support has helped a number of young people to be awarded with apprenticeships with several Nottingham companies as a result of the project.

Said Mark: “Working with the youngsters was hard work at times but ultimately proved extremely rewarding.

“You could see how they were developing and maturing over the course of the project and it was great to see some of them go on to earn apprenticeships.

“We were also able to encourage some of our business partners to get involved, such as Jo Belton, Partner Private Banking for Notts Outlaws sponsors Yorkshire Bank, and hopefully we can extend that next year with the second phase of the scheme.”

Mark and Wayne both intend to continue their involvement in 2008 when Crime Concern are looking to take the project to schools and groups across the whole city of Nottingham.

Notts Chief Executive Derek Brewer said: “I’m delighted that the club has been recognised in this way.

“The success of the programme proved the ability of a venue such as Trent Bridge to have a really positive effect on young people, when allied to outstanding work with partners.”

emda Chief Executive Jeff Moore (pictured with Mark) said: “It is important that we encourage and recognise enterprise in sport.
 
“It is terrific that Notts County Cricket Club is involved in such a worthwhile project, which inspires and encourages disadvantaged young people to think innovatively and creatively in order to solve the problems of anti-social behaviour in their community.”