Elite Youth project goes into the classroom
Tell us about Elite Youth?
At Elite Youth we offer services to young people ranging from sports, recreational workshops and educational activities.
We've been running since 1973, and our work is central to the community here. In partnership with the Brick Lane Youth Development Association we are one of the major groups giving young people something to do in this area.
We are reaching out to all sections of the community with our work, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of our services.
The bottom line for us is that we want to provide a place for youngsters to be safe, enjoy themselves and then go on to use that positive experience to achieve something in life.
Who are you working with?
Elite Youth are working with young people from a number of different backgrounds.
The majority of young people are from BME groups and because of the demographics of the area most of the young people are from the Bangladeshi community.
As most of the staff understand and come from the community we are culturally sensitive and in a position to be able to work with traditionally excluded groups for example we provide football training delivered by females for females. This is a real strength of Elite Youth.
We have always believed in a grassroots approach and we are proud that it has worked, and is continuing to do so. Through capacity building and gaining the trust of parents in the area we¹ve seen more and more young people come to us and go on to do something positive with themselves.
How did you get involved with Kick It Out?
Last year we put together an educational project to coincide with the Week of Action in October.
We used the links we have with schools and in football to put on workshops on racism in football in four different schools and spoke to more than 300 young people. To reach some of the older children we also organised a football tournament where 400 people turned up.
To document the project we filmed the entire event and got a DVD made up to give to all the schools that took part as well as the young people participating in the project.
We also worked closely with the Village Club in Tower Hamlets during the Week of Action to make sure we were bringing youngsters from different parts of the borough together too.
What about the future for Elite Youth?
There is a need for our work and our approach is working.
We are in the process of securing our football programme for the next 5 years and we are also expanding our work to reach out to parents. It's vital to help them where possible and also let them know that they need to make sure that they are supporting and encouraging their kids.
