Sport, a way back into work

«  I was impressed by the boldness and commitment of the APS people. They are always trying to give a new opportunity to young people by helping them make juvenile delinquency a thing of the past. »

Olivier Genty

Since 1994, the Action Prévention Sport (APS) Association has been offewring help to disadvantaged young people, who left school too early and had no work qualifications, to find a way into society and the economy through sport. To meet that goal, it has developed three sets of services: individual coaching in partnership with the prison employment service and the Créteil courts; training to meet sports job qualifications, especially the state certificate as a sports trainer; and availability of a 300 sq.m sports centre, based on the principle of diversified social groups. Here, young participants can join groups that pursue a sport for leisure purposes or train with regionally- or nationally-ranked athletes.
 

Completing the placement course using information technology

APS bases it action on the conviction that a placement course that brings the young person back up to standard can succeed it if it focuses on the concepts of quality of the experiences conveyed and of discipline during training. But to put these concepts into action, the sports equipment has to match the ambitions.
APS therefore looked to partners and donors to help renew some of its sports equipment but also to establish an information technology and multimedia centre. The individuals who are going through the job / society placement course can come and do certain types of work, such as Internet research and refresher courses, and so begin to conduct an active job search.
Along with the Ile-de-France Regional Authority, the City Council and the City Policy Office, the Veolia foundation decided to help this project with a grant of €20,000. The money will be used to fit out the multimedia centre.