The Harlequins Foundation have teamed up with the Met Police and a Dulwich rugby club to deliver a project to engage with young people.

Together with the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG) and Old Alleynians Rugby Club, 'Project Play' aims to give young people the opportunity to learn the game and engage with local police.

Sergeant Chris Bright, one of the Met’s co-ordinators for ‘Project Rugby’, said: “Project Rugby's aim is to give young people the opportunity to learn about the game, its values and be part of the rugby community.

“We also want to enable students to learn or develop skills such as speed, agility or general fitness and give them all the opportunities they need to enjoy this great game. At the same time, we will also help alleviate any fears students may have about interacting with the police.”

The Project, which has been delivered by four officers from the Met’s TSG unit in partnership with the Harlequins Foundation and Old Alleynians Rugby Club, has delivered four one-hour sessions at several secondary schools across Southwark and Lambeth.

The sessions start by breaking down barriers between young people and police; delivering police personal training sessions and hosting a Q&A – where they get to know the students and alleviate any fears they may have whilst also gaining their trust.

In the second session, the students are introduced to rugby and its core values: Teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship.

They also learn how the sport can benefit them before playing non-contact games to give them a basic understanding of the rules.

Session three is skills-based. It allows further development and learning more about the game. At the end of this session, the students and parents were personally invited by Harlequins to attend a final gathering at Alleynians RFC to demonstrate what they have learnt and to get more information on how to keep them involved.

The final coaching session, which took place on February 12, was run by professional coaches from Harlequins, supported by police, and local coaches from Alleynians Rugby Football Club.

Role models from both clubs were present to give the students something to aspire towards. They were also given contact details and further support by both clubs for longevity.

Sergeant Bright added: “Many communities do not get exposure to rugby and the host of benefits it brings and we hope that through this project we can aim to give young people a sense of belonging, be part of the rugby community and socialise and make new friends.

“Whilst we also intend to educate young people on aspects such as crime reduction, interacting with police and inform them on topics such as stop and search and knife crime, we also want to listen to any concerns the students may be having at home or in their local communities.”

Sergeant Bright, who is also a rugby coach in his spare time, also said: “The idea of ‘Project Rugby’ came to me one day whilst at work and I saw a young man running from a police officer and I thought, “this young man should be running on the rugby pitch instead of from the police”. From that moment, ‘Project Rugby’ was born."