England plan phased-wise sport activities for Pak youth

MIRPUR (AJK) Director Lord Richard Newby, Director of 'Sport for Life a UK-based non-profitable organisation, said that his organisation had inked a broad-based integrated plan to establish a cricket and learning centre in various parts of Pakistan including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Rawalpindi and other parts of the country.
He was talking to the newsmen at Quaid-e-Azam International Mirpur Cricket Stadium here Saturday on the eve of the inauguration of the first Cricket and Education Learning Centre set up at Mirpur by his organisation. Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Raja Zulqarnain Khan inaugurated the centre, first of its own kind in AJK.
The inaugural ceremony was addressed by the AJK President Raja Zulqarnain Khan, Lord Richard Newby, Advisor to AJK President Dr ZU Khan, Director British Council Pakistan David Martin, Commissioner Mirpur division Dr Mahmoodul Hassan Khan, Educationist Rashed Taraab and representative of the Sport for Life Raja Javed Ahmed Khan.
DIG Mirpur range Dr Ch Liaqat Hussain, SSP Sardar Gul Faraz Khan, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Tayyeb Chaudhry, Ms Isabel Leigh, Assistant Public Relations Manager Tariq Javed, Media and PR Manager and other officials of the organisation, city elite, sport lovers including cricket fans were also present on this occasion. The key objective of the establishment of the Cricket and Learning Centre is to make the youth of 10 to 16 years of age acquainted of the knowledge about the sport including cricket activities and other related academic know-how, Richard said.
Elaborating the life history of his organisation - the Sport for Life - Richard said that it was founded as a not-for-profit initiative after the 2007 ICC World Cup in the West Indies. Following the implementation of Sport for Life centres in the Caribbean and UK, the programme continues to use cricket as a recruiting mechanism to motivate and inspire young people to participate in sport, education and healthy lifestyle training. With the support of the Pakistan government and cricketing authorities, the organisation emphasises sport as a platform to encourage personal, social and academic development in young people, he added.
Sport for Life will continue to sustain the initiative through a combination of internal and external, private, public and philanthropic donations, he said.
It may be added that the co-education facilities have been developed for all ages between 10 and 16 to help increase levels of numeracy, literacy and Information Technology skills. Girls and boys alike will have access to the latest desktop computers, interactive whiteboards and classrooms. Specialist teachers and coaches will be scouted from local communities and trained to maintain the centres.