London APSA Under 21 Team 3G Training Facility

Aim

This project will benefit young people who come from deprived backgrounds and with a clear vision and pathway will benefit all young people

Who are we?

APSA are involved in community projects which bring the youth and adults from the local community of Newham, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham and Tower Hamlets together. Some of the projects include youth and adults football, mentoring programmes for young people, and community projects. APSA has been running football projects for the past 28 years in Newham, the projects have allowed young people to work together through football, and by participating in our projects has reduced the chances of knife crime, anti-social behaviour and drug dealing in Newham.

At London APSA we ensure we work hard to create a safe and fun environment for young people. We have installed a culture of openness, honesty and freedom of expression. We always encourage all our members to speak to the relevant department if they have any concerns and ensure those who do will be supported. Our volunteers and management work tirelessly to ensure our young people stay on the right track in life through our football and mentoring programmes.

This project will be open for all young people in Newham, Tower Hamlets and Redbridge aged between 14-21. We want football to be free and inclusive for young people who live in deprived backgrounds in London and lately the opening of several football franchises and soccer schools that charge monthly subscription fees has made football unaffordable for young people who come from deprived backgrounds and low-income households.  

During this project, we hope to gain funding not just for football but for other projects such as, anti-knife crime campaigns, anti-drug campaigns, and healthy lifestyle campaigns. Our overall ambition by the end of 2023 is to provide a platform for over 150 young people to come into a safe environment and play football. Many of the young people who will take park in our project will be put on a 1 2 1 mentoring programme where we will be providing them free career advice, general advice and help with CV writing, and with the younger age groups (age 14-18) we will work closely with them to ensure they are distracted from crime, anti-social behaviour or joining gangs.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT: 

• Create 2 new football teams for young people aged between 16-21 years of age and for young people of all backgrounds, races, religions or ability, thus creating an environment open for all. However mostly targeting young people from deprived areas and background in Newham and Tower Hamlets. 
• Create a safe environment where young people can come in participate and express themselves freely.
• Help young people who face challenges in life such as social exclusion, lack of support and low self-confidence.
• Educate the youth and teach core life skills they will carry into education and employment. 
• Improve young people’s social skills, communication, integration within the wider community and the ability to problem solve.
• Identify skills and potential in young people and empower them to realise their full potential. 
• Provide activities and opportunities for young people’s social and personal development. 
• Provide support, advice and general help to young people. 
• Provide twice a week training.
• Plan, structure and deliver professional football coaching sessions by qualified and experienced coaches. 
• Deliver sessions in a 3G pitch facility. 
• Participate in various leagues and tournaments throughout the project. 
• Provide all young people with a free Nike training sweatshirt, shorts and socks. 
• Work closely with local journalists and media outlets to highlight and publicize the young people’s progress so the youngsters receive recognition for their work. 
• Provide an end of season awards ceremony in a hired hall, with food catered and awards given to the young people for their efforts, commitment and hard work.  

Community impact

This project will help build stronger diverse relationships and unity between communities of different faiths and cultures reduce social disadvantage and enhance social inclusion by supporting young people through football and promoting healthy eating for families on low incomes. Football is a tool, which can be used to improve quality of life and reduce crime among young people. We promote discipline and values of community. 

We aim to expand our provisional mentoring and informal learning opportunities to an additional 100 young people over the course of the year. APSA will strengthen each young person's capacity to successfully connect to his or her family and community and lay the foundation to a healthy transition to adulthood, by teaching skills in effective communication, skills for social integration, planning and goal setting to help boost their morale and steering them in their chosen career path.

We aim to help families in the boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham and Redbridge to develop and share healthy eating habits in order to fight obesity and help young people perform better in school through a healthy and balanced diet. We will encourage families to share food from their different cultures around the different faith and cultural celebration as part of the project. One of the biggest factors in our society is religion. We have so many religious projects and they are all good for our community, however they do not work together and that only divides our community. This project will provide a platform for young people from a religious background to come together and participate under one umbrella in a safe and secure environment. The project would represent, reflect and celebrate our diverse community. Our borough has achieved and accomplished a great deal but there is so much more we can do to help and support our community and the future generation. 

We have spoken to some of the clubs in Newham and a lot of them do not accommodate young people of that age group and if they do the young people have to go through a series of trials before they are even selected to play for the team. We found that many parents we spoke to worried about their child’s health. Obesity is a big concern for every parent, so they believe that there needs to be more sporting activities available for local young people that just want to have fun not necessarily play for professional teams. I have also spoken to some of the clubs in Newham and a lot of them do not accommodate young people of that age group and if they do the young people have to go through a series of trials before they are even selected to play for the team, some clubs take on young people but fail to spend quality time with them, due to high numbers, so eventually the young people drop out due to neglect and clubs do nothing to follow this up.

Why are we crowdfunding?

We are in desperate need to cover for a 3G Astroturf pitch to train our youngsters twice a week as well as the funds needed for our home pitch booking. 

In January 2022 with limited funding, we started the Under 23 youth football and mentoring programme. We have so far worked with over 40 young people and have so far delivered 56 training sessions (2 sessions a week since January). Our biggest aim now is to gain funding for a 3G facility to train the youngsters.

We have gained funding which has covered the teams home and away kit, training kit as well as all the latest football equipment and now in need of gaining funds for a 3G facility, home league games pitch hire costs, and awards ceremony. 

Our project achievements so far: 

• 56 training sessions have so far been delivered to young people aged between 16-23 years of age. 
• By participating in our football sessions has reduced the chances of anti-social behaviour, drug dealing, and drug use and has given the young people a competitive football pathway to look forward to. 
• 8 young people from the project have been put on a mentoring scheme and career advice has been given, as well as advice in CV writing and help with job applications. 
• We helped 2 young people from the project gain part-time employment locally. 
• 2 of our youngsters were rewarded with a brand new pair of football boots by the club, rewarding our youngsters for their hard work and commitment. 
• We conducted a survey to which 30 young people responded to and showed interest in future and potential projects. 

FUNDS REQUIRED FOR THE UNDER 23 PROJECT:

TYPE 

DETAILS 

TOTAL COST 

TRAINING FACILITY 3G PITCH (TUESDAYS)

CASTLE GREEN LEISURE CENTRE, DAGENHAM, RM9 4UN 

HALF THE PITCH - £40 PER HOUR X 2 HOURS = £80 

£80 X 42 WEEKS = £1680 

£1680 

TRAINING FACILITY 3G PITCH (THURSDAYS)

CASTLE GREEN LEISURE CENTRE, DAGENHAM, RM9 4UN 

HALF THE PITCH - £40 PER HOUR X 2 HOURS = £80 

£80 X 42 WEEKS = £1680

£1680 

HOME PITCH BOOKING COST

FAIRLOP OAK PLAYING FIELDS, IG6 3HJ 

FULL-WEEK CONTRACT 28 WEEKS

£2601

ANTI-KNIFE CRIME WORKSHOP 

BEST WESTERN GREATER LONDON HOTEL HALL HIRE 

HALL HIRE £350 

GUEST APPEARANCE (EX-OFFENDER AND CURRENT YOUTH WORKER: £150 

REFRESHMENTS: £50 

£550

ANTI-DRUG USE WORKSHOP

BEST WESTERN GREATER LONDON HOTEL HALL HIRE 

HALL HIRE £350 

GUEST APPEARANCE (EX-OFFENDER AND CURRENT YOUTH WORKER: £150 

REFRESHMENTS: £50

£550

END OF SEASON AWARDS CEREMONY 

HALL HIRE £500 

TROPHIES AND AWARDS: £350 

CATERING AND FOOD: £300

£1150 

MINIBUS HIRE FOR AWAY GAMES

JMINIBUS SERVICE

QUOTE RECEIVED: £220 

£2220

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT

£10411

We understand the full cost of this project won’t be covered by a single fund; however, we will appreciate any sort of funding or help to get us closer to our target. The project will be beneficial to a maximum of 150 young people and we aim to work with 150 young people by the end of 2023. 

This project will benefit young people who come from deprived backgrounds and with a clear vision and pathway will benefit all young people to make the right and positive life choices. 

Through our project we can keep young people active and busy and by participating in an exciting and organised football league, with regular minibus travel and competitive games this will keep the young people engaged and always looking forward to the next training session and the next fixture of games. 

We will put several young people participating in this project with 1 2 1 mentoring and support and help those who require education or employment advice. 

We hope through the hard work and sacrifices made by the management in years gone by consistently, we can require the funds required to fund the project and help these young people in need of our services. 

Thank You 

Instagram: @London_Apsa

Twitter: @LondonAPSAFC

Facebook @London_Apsa

Links:

Website: https://www.londonapsa.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/london_apsa/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LondonAPSAFC

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LondonAPSA

This project closed unsuccessfully on 1st September 2022