ACTION
Street Elite is a coaching and mentoring programme that engages young people through sport and inspires them to re-enter employment, education or training.
The nine-month programme, run by The Change Foundation, is targeted at 18-to 25-year-olds in London and Birmingham who have been impacted by violence, crime and inequality.
It starts with weekly sports and mentoring sessions where participants build up relationships with coach mentors and their peers and develop skills that can be translated into the workplace. “We meet in ‘hubs’ – usually sports venues – to play sports, such as football, rugby, boxing, or gym workouts,” explains programme manager Dean Lamb, who leads a team of 10 coaches who work across six London boroughs.
“Sport is a great tool to use with young people because it's universal, and it brings people together. At first, the connection between sports and work may not be obvious, but by the end of the 15 weeks, participants gain a clear understanding of the bigger picture.”
The youth work games invite discussion, debate and self-reflection. “We work on developing skills such as time keeping, communication, team building and anger management,” Lamb explains.
“We relate incidents that might happen in the sessions to the workplace. If we're playing football, for example, the referee might make a bad decision on purpose, just to provoke a reaction. We explain that sometimes your boss might make the wrong call, but the way to approach this is to pull them to one side and have a conversation, rather than getting angry.”
Referrals come from youth organisations, community groups, faith centres and youth offending teams. But most are recruited through outreach work, Lamb explains. “We meet them where they hang out, often in places where antisocial behaviour takes place, such as parks and estates,” he adds. “They're often shocked to see us in their environment and apprehensive at first, but we build up their trust and then present them with this great offer.”
Recruiting new participants can present safeguarding challenges, particularly around young people from different postcodes mixing. “If we recruit from the wrong areas and bring them together, it could lead to serious problems,” Lamb explains.
In addition, half of the young females on the course are parents and Street Elite provides childcare so that they can attend the sessions and work placements.
Sessions are viewed with the “same importance as a job”, he says. “Each young person receives £20 a week as an incentive to take part in the sessions, which covers transport and a Street Elite sports uniform.”
During the second phase of the programme, participants take part in employability workshops where they receive support with their CVs or industry leaders coming to talk to them.
This is followed by one-to-one mentoring sessions that focus on getting them back to employment, education or training.
When it comes to work placements and apprenticeships, the “sky's the limit” explains Lamb. “One of our graduates, Leyya, has just won the BBC iPlayer's UK Rap Game and signed a contract with Sony. Others might go down the construction route or into finance or retail. Berkeley Foundation, our main partner, is instrumental in helping us find work placements within the housing and construction sector. Some go to university, and there's a fund for those who aspire to start their own business.”
IMPACT
Between 2023 and 2024, 125 young people completed the programme in London and Birmingham, with 107 (86%) successfully transitioning into employment, education or training.
“But we don't give up on those who aren't ready to get back into work or education,” says Lamb. “We mentor them, sometimes for a couple of years, and build up strong connections.”
Some 50 participants in last year's cohort were women, and over 50% of them have returned to work or are “seeking to start their careers”.
In Birmingham, 24 out of 25 young people are now in work or education, a 96% success rate.
Graduates have described the programme as “a third option”.
One says: “When Street Elite coaches came along, things changed on the estate. Now there are three options: become a drug dealer, pass your GCSEs or join Street Elite. It works, and people on the estate respect it.”
An external evaluation jointly commissioned by The Change Foundation and The Berkeley Foundation in 2019 found that every £1 invested in Street Elite generated £10.72 in social value through reduced negative health behaviours, increased skills and employment, and engaged and active young people.
