Players Surprise Young People at BWitC’s VRU Friday Night Football
Friday 24th October, Bolton Wanderers in the Community (BWitC) surprised young people at their Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) Friday night football session with a visit from Bolton Wanderers Football Club (BWFC) First Team players Sonny Sharples-Ahmed and Charlie Warren.
BWitC’s VRU programme is a partnership with New Bury Boxing, Great Lever and Farnworth Voice (girls youth group) and 1Message (targeted mentoring for young people already engaged in crime). The role of the partnership is to offer young people sport, additional opportunities and safe spaces to socialise where they won’t be at risk of getting involved in crime. Sessions are open to young people between 10 and 10 with an open access format and however BWitC, within the partnership, accept referrals work alongside local schools and statutory bodies.
Sessions are based within the New Bury Area due to the area’s status as a disadvantaged area which we have been working and building partnerships in for five years. Despite being an extremely small area, the area accounts for a disproportionately high rate of serious youth violence whilst the wider Farnworth area has high levels of ASB.
Sonny Sharples-Ahmed and Charlie Warren joined BWitC coaches and volunteers at their Friday night football session hosted out of St James’s Church of England High School in Farnworth. Players were invited to participate as managers for two teams providing support and encouragement before putting on the bibs themselves and joining the young people for a kick about.
Sonny Sharples-Ahmed said of the session, “It was good to interact with the kids. It puts a smile on their face”
“I remember being that age as well and it’s just mad, even playing on these pitches now it just brings back memories”
“It’s good for the kids, they look up to people like us who play football. Especially some of them could be bolton fans so it’s nice for them and they’ll remember it.”
Charlie Warren added “I think its important for the kids to see us, to be able to come down and give them a bit of encouragement. I’ve really enjoyed it to be fair and it’s been a good bit of fun”
“I think its good for them, it keeps them busy and takes their minds off things and it enables them to kick a ball around for an hour and enjoy themselves and get a bit of a bond going with other players which is good”
Despite the odds the sessions have seen several success stories including Bailey and Riley, who have attended for years. Last year they worked with The Agency, an organisation which pays young people to design their own social action project; the boys successfully ran football sessions in Little Lever for young children and acted as coaches, planning and delivering sessions alongside their usual coach Geoff.
Alicia White, BWitC Social Inclusion Development Officer, said “These sessions are funded by Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit. It’s a community led alliance which means we use the knowledge of the local community to talk about the strengths, the challenges and to make sure we’re working with local organisations to improve the local area.”
“New Bury is an area that has faced a lot of challenges in recent years. What we provide at these sessions is a safe space for young people who would otherwise be socially isolated or engaging in negative behaviour in the community, to come, to socialise, to get fit and to make new friends. As well as the football opportunities, we take them on trips, we offer educational opportunities but I think one of the most impactful things we offer is consistent coaching with positive role models and many of the young people tell us that’s one of the main attractions to these sessions.”
Last season BWitC delivered 98 VRU sessions with 3,010 individual engagements from 402 different young people. We want to continue supporting young people across Bolton, but we need your help. Help us continue and grow our services and make our community a connected and thriving place where young people have positive opportunities. For more information on how you can support young people across Bolton contact Alicia at awhite@bwitc.org.uk