YOUNG people from across the borough were at Heart of Worcestershire College on Monday to take part in the Redditch Street Sixes tournament.
The event featured football and cricket and was aimed at furthering social cohesion and promoting exercise as well as encouraging positive relations with local authorities.
Representatives from West Mercia Police, Redditch United, Sports Partnership Hereford & Worcester and Worcestershire County Cricket Board (WCCB) were all present as eight teams of mixed ages played street cricket and football on the college car park. Teams taking part included the Cookhill CC Roosters and MKN2, representing the Mount Pleasant Mosque in Redditch.
The cricket tournament is part of the ‘Wicketz’ programme started by the WCCB and designed to promote cricket across communities.
Inspector Mark Chappell, of Redditch Police, said: “This is the culmination of the last year’s work to try and break down social barriers with young people and the partners are all here to try and combine that together.
“Going back 12 or 15 months there was not the cohesion in the community that there is now and we’ve combined our skill sets in these times of austerity to make sure these young people have an opportunity to play sport.”
Harry Kitchen, from WCCB, added: “The day was a tremendous success.
“We had 40 children organised into eight teams and it was great that representatives from lots of other sports were there too.
“We already run a weekly cricket session in Redditch on Tuesday evenings and there are some really good up and coming young cricketers in Redditch. The Sixes is definitely something we want to continue.”
