A new weekly sports project has been launched to help kids stay active in the Maple Park area of Ipswich.

Run by Catch 22 Suffolk Positive Futures every Thursday evening, the free sessions provide local children the chance to keep fit by playing football and basketball.

Paul Knight, project manager at Catch 22, said the sessions have been going "really well" since launching a few weeks ago.

He said: "The Maple Park area is a location we have visited many times previously over school holidays and we are pleased to now be here on a weekly basis offering worthwhile sporting opportunities to local young people."

Ipswich Star: The project is supported by Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough CouncilThe project is supported by Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council (Image: Pagepix Ltd 07976 935738)

Matthew Hicks, county council leader, added: “By establishing free sporting opportunities like these in the heart of local communities it helps to bypass many of the traditional barriers that young people face in accessing sport and, in doing so, provides positive benefits both for the individual and the wider community.

"During the coronavirus pandemic young people’s levels of activity have significantly fallen so this new opportunity is really positive.”

Bryony Rudkin, borough council portfolio holder for sport and leisure, added: "It has never been more important for children and young people to engage in positive and healthy activities like this, so it is great to see how popular it has been so far and how much they are enjoying it.”