The money raised through this year’s event will be used to support Ambassadors in Sport’s projects in London and South Africa.
Hope FC, London
Hope FC is a project that offers young people at risk of getting involved in drugs, crime and gang warfare, alternative activities and opportunities to break out of their circumstances. We seek to engage with and see transformation in the lives of those who are vulnerable and marginalised. Our coaches and volunteers challenge the common negative misconceptions people may have about themselves and highlight the potential within them.
We currently work in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Bromley. Money raised through Match for a Day will be used to develop and expand the work of Hope FC through extra staff, training and equipment.
Hope FC focuses on three specific project areas:
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Education: Delivering coaching sessions, Sports Leaders Awards certificates and Coach Education Programmes for pupils.
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Young Offenders: Working with individuals referred to us by Youth Offending Teams. Delivering coaching programmes which incorporate teaching key life skills and setting up Crime Diversion Midnight Leagues to reduce gang activity.
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Street Soccer: Working with men who have chaotic lifestyles, typically referred to us by organisations working with the homeless. These projects offer regular training, occasional friendly matches and tournaments. There is also the opportunity after training to go for lunch with the coaches and volunteers.
The majority of people we have been working with are in particularly hopeless situations. Often victims of broken homes and other circumstances out of their control and grouped together in their own subcultures outside of mainstream society where hopelessness, frustration and lack of ambition breed. There are few positive influences amongst their peers and their lives can become a downward spiral until they hit rock bottom. Through football coaching sessions we emphasise practical life skills needed to be a good player, such as perseverance and teamwork, and encourage participants to apply these to all areas of life.
At the centre of Hope FC are local community football outreach teams. Our aim is to continue to support and encourage Hope FC participants, by encouraging the young people to join a local church or community football team that we partner with. These teams create opportunities where players are surrounded by positive role models from mainstream society, and a positive atmosphere in which to support players in both football and life.
Hope Academies in South Africa
For five years, Ambassadors in Sport, South Africa, have been working in prisons with juvenile offenders, using football to bring hope and change to young men’s lives, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
In South African prisons drugs, physical and sexual abuse and violence become the norm. Boys who end up in prison can become involved in gangs leading to many young lives being destroyed forever. Our uniquely designed ‘Hope Academies’ aim to break the cycle of abuse and violence within the prison setting.
Through the academy in Pollsmoor prison, Cape Town, we have seen dramatic change in prisoners involved in the programme. Wardens in the prison have testified about the power of the academies and the change they have seen in many of the young lives. The impact of the projects are most clearly seen through young men who have come through the academy, left prison and made choices for change which has lead them to continue studying or seek employment and no longer engage in crime or gangsterism. Some participants even play professional soccer if they are good enough.
The ‘Hope Academy’ model has been developed and delivered by trained AIS football coaches and aims to target participants with good soccer ability and the desire to change. As well as football coaching the academy includes a life skills curriculum including team dynamics, HIV/AIDS awareness, anger management, conflict resolution, relationships, financial management, literacy and reading, health and diet. The boys in the academy will then be an example for the rest of the prisoners, sharing what they gain with others around them. To combat the issue of these young people exiting prison and returning to their existing environment, Hope Academy has links to local churches and community based organizations with existing sports programmes, who give participants a sense of belonging when they exit the system. The boys play a key role in helping to run each programme including coaching and teaching. This keeps the boys connected to the curriculum and knowledge they have gained through Hope Academy during their time in prison and helps them begin new lives outside the prison walls, giving back to the community they came from.
Money raised from Match for a Day will be used to continue the work with juvenile offenders in South Africa.
Our aim is to provide a half way house that will act as an ‘elite’ academy providing holistic training for one year after release for offenders between the ages of 14 – 24.
We also hope to take the successful ‘Hope Academy’ model into prisons and communities throughout Africa. Please visit www.aishopeacademy.com for more information.
