Entry:Transparency in Sports, Healthy Communities: Corruption's Sudden Death
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>View discussions about this entry Country: United Kingdom
Organization: Street League
Sport: Soccer
Year the initative began (yyyy) 2001
YouTube Upload:
Project URL: HTTP://www.streetleague.co.uk
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence? The mission of Street League is to engage disadvantaged individuals who are at risk of social exclusion in a structured ‘sport for development’ programme that builds on opportunities for clients to improve physical fitness, develop a better quality of life, acquire life skills and relevant qualifications, and make positive choices as they transition towards employment, independent living and other positive outcomes.
Describe your innovation. What makes your idea unique and different than others doing work in the field? Street League works in synergy with over 60 partnerships across statutory, voluntary and private sectors to achieve maximum impact and effect real social change for marginalised people. Many clients face multiple barriers to social inclusion, so developing strong partnerships with local agencies – such as homeless hostels, rehabilitation projects, local authorities and Job Centres – has been fundamental to directly accessing our target groups and ensuring that our services compliment wider support options while avoiding duplication.
The Street League model is underpinned by an ethos of inclusion, a chance for everyone to play and enjoy sport while re-engaging with the community. Our activities provide an environment where participants can learn about people from different backgrounds and cultures, promoting greater understanding and tolerance that can be taken from the football pitch back into local neighbourhoods. What are the existing barriers, the biggest problem, your innovation is hoping to address/change? Street League players come from a range of disadvantaged backgrounds including homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, displacement, unemployment, crime, learning difficulties and mental health. Many players have complex and multiple problems and there is an overarching theme of social exclusion.
Delivery Model: How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing? Our current delivery model in London and Glasgow is founded on the following activities, which are adapted depending on the specific needs of client groups in each area:
- Street Sports – a structured football and fitness programme used to engage our clients, including weekly training sessions and a year-round competitive football league; - Directions 2 Work – an educational programme using the theme of sport to help individuals progress towards employment, education, training and independence through personal development courses such as Route Planning, CV writing and interview skills, FA Level 1 and 2 Coaching, and the Community Sports Leadership Award. Our integrated programmes help to increase soft skills such as motivation, self-esteem, teamwork and communication skills, as well as hard skills focused on vocational training. How do you plan to grow your innovation? Our future plans are focused on improving the quality and extent of our delivery in London and Glasgow. We are also aiming to extend our work geographically so that more people and communities can benefit from Street League. We are currently working on our National Development Initiative and we are looking into moving into a third UK city in the near future.
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact. Sport is the hook we use to engage with individuals and help them build self-esteem, which is then used as a springboard towards a positive future.
What impact has your innovation had to date/or what is your intended impact? Exactly who are the beneficiaries? - Every year over 1500 individuals participate in the Street Sports programme
- An average of 200 participants play in London each week on a total of 32 teams - Over 600 clients participated in Directions 2 Work in its first year of operation (2006-07) - 96% of clients say Street League helped them achieve positive changes in their lifestyles - 84% of clients say Street League has helped improve their employment prospects - 80% of clients say their health and fitness has improved Street League engages disadvantaged males and females aged 16+ from a broad range of backgrounds, who are homeless (42%), at risk of becoming homeless (36%) including substance abusers, ex-offenders and people with mental health problems, or are refugees/asylum seekers (22%). The majority of clients are under the age of 25 (66%) and represent Black and Minority Ethnic groups (77%) who have often fallen through the cracks of mainstream social services.
Please list any other measures reflective of the impact of your innovation? All of our evaluation procedures have shown that the existing Street League model is delivering strong results against our objectives in enabling our clients to build self-esteem, improve health and get into work and education.
We also provide diversionary activities, giving people who might be at risk of getting involved in drug use or crime a positive alternative. This has been evident in Glasgow where police have noticed a reduction in crime rates at times our activities are running. What are the main barriers to creating or achieving your impact? This field has not been completed
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)? Street League is funded by a combination of funding streams, including local councils, trust and foundations and corporate partnerships.
A few of our key supporters at the moment are The Football Foundation, The London Development Agancy, Sport England, The Big Lottery Fund and Sport Relief. If known, provide information on your finances and organization. Street League have a team of over 20 full time staff working in our offices in London and Glasgow. We currently are supported by more than 30 active volunteers.
What is the potential demand for your innovation? We believe that people and communities across the UK can benefit from Street League and whilst we improve the quality and extent of our delivery in London and Glasgow we are also aiming to extend our work geographically. Street Leauge are currently working on our National Development Initiative and we are looking to move into a third UK city in the near future as we beilive their is a national demand for our inovation.
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability? This field has not been completed
What is the origin of this innovation? Tell us your story. Dr. Damian Hatton, CEO "I have always been passionate about team sports and football is something almost universally popular and brings people together at several different levels – most people have an idea of football, many have a connection with it and yet more play themselves – so in essence, it unites people and encourages them to become team players.
I balloted a few people from different sources – the hospital and street agencies. I also found the hostel directory and rang nearby hostels to invite them to a 5-aside football competition. The initial aim was to run a 6-8 week training schedule and then the competition. We supplied the kit, transport, football coaches, refreshments and schedule. It was going to be a one-off but the competition went really well and we had such a great response. Representatives from some of the homelessness agencies there were very surprised at the number of people gathered doing positive things. I had planned just to take a one year sabbatical to get to the competition stage, but the response made me decide to stay and take things to the next level. We secured some funding which involved talking to lots of different people and everyone involved being committed to getting Street League off the ground. The Football Foundation – the part of the Football Association that deals with grass-roots football – gave us an initial sum which kick-started Street League in June 2001." Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers marketing material. "I was a qualified doctor working at University College Hospital in central London. I had first hand experience of the numbers of individuals who ended up in casualty - homeless, in battered states with drug and alcohol problems – and I knew they didn’t access the treatment services available. They stimulated my interest in doing something for people who were homeless, and the missing ingredient in what was already out there seemed to be fun. It all grew from that."
Contact Information:
Damian Hatton
Chief Executive Street League (Charity) Discussions about this entry |
Dear Damian:
We enjoyed reading your entry – you are one of our favorites, so we are glad that you have added more content to your entry. If you are interested, we just recently posted a general piece on the contest criteria – innovation, scale, and impact – that might be helpful to you. (see http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/729#comment-2686.)
We are encouraged by your strong partnership model, good understanding and discussion of your target audience’s needs, and meaningful outcomes. We think your application could be even stronger as well as clearer if your outcomes were presented through a logic model (see our post noted above for more details). If you have one, we’d love to see it. In addition, we’d be interested in your methodology for your client survey and seeing a few more “success stories” about transformed clients. Similar to the Changemakers team, we also would love for you to complete your sections on Financial Sustainability and Key Barriers. Changemakers provides you with a wide audience who may even be able to help you solve any issues you might have in these areas.
If you have specific questions on this posting, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Paul Bloom
Senior Research Scholar of Social Entrepreneurship and Marketing
Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
Duke University – Fuqua School of Business
Suzanne Steffens
CASE Scholar
MBA Student, Class of 2008
Duke University – Fuqua School of Business
Many thanks for your comments and we are so pleased that you recognise our organisation as standing out from the rest! We certainly believe what we are doing at Street League is both innovative and having a positive impact on the lives of some of the UK’s most disadvantaged individuals.
We are currently working on our monitoring and evaluation strategy and producing a model of outcomes, as we know that this is crucial to demonstrate the value of our programmes and will not only add strength to this entry but also provide a solid base for our ongoing our funding proposals.
I am more than happy to provide you with some of our Street League ‘success stories’ and hope you will find them interesting and informative:
~ Tarpe Catford, London “I had some problems with frustration, angry outburst at coaches, moments I’m not that proud of. But I kept coming back, as they say at all good recovery meetings, and I talked over my problems with the team manager. In the early days, I would be wanting to sniff solvents but would think no, I won't because I want to go to football training this week. Street League is for everyone regardless of level of ability. It’s a very inclusive environment. Street League has helped me rebuild my life and I’m hoping to move on positively from there. Football is a great sport for bringing people together and giving them hope. I also want to help others benefit from the sport I love.”
~ Joe Malcolmson, Scotland “I didn’t always think before I acted but I’ve learnt now to understand other people’s perspectives. Street League has definitely helped me improve my social skills. The other big thing was my general health and fitness. My diet is a lot healthier now, and I feel better for it. Street League really has given me the direction I needed, and has given me the support and confidence to pursue a successful future.”
~ Sam Boampong, London “I’m now back on my feet, a Qualified FA Coach with plans for the future. And most importantly I’ve now got my own place, I’m living independently once again. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities Street League has given me. A year ago thinking about a career as a football coach was a million miles away. Street League can give you hope and it’s important people get to hear about the success stories and what it can do for you. It changed my life and I’m looking forward to the future with confidence.”
Thank you again for your comments and suggestions and Merry Christmas from everyone here at Street League.
Kindest regards Gemma-Jane, Street League Fundraising Coordinator,
Kevin Carroll
Changemakers Featured Commentator
Sport for a Better World Competition
Damian, congratulations on your program and the holistic approach you are taking to providing a chance for someone to change his/her circumstances.Using street sports and games as the "bait" is so right because science/research has proven that regardless of our situation we want to play and have fun as human beings. Creating a scenario that makes a person feel safe and feel like they have permission to express themselves thru play is a natural opportunity to create inclusion. Your other offering of programs for vocational development and empowerment is the magic! What you are doing is bigger than the street sports and games - you are providing a platform for someone to reclaim their life, be productive, and perhaps one day return the favor for someone else. What sort of vocational program's are available? How does a participant get screened to identify a hidden talent or an interest/aptitude? Once the are enrolled, do you require a commitment of some sort (promissory note/pledge) from them to ensure that they amke every effort to complete the training?
I'm sure you are quite familiar with the Homeless World Cup(HWC) event and the work that organization is accomplishing (www.homelessworldcup.org) - you're work is quite similar in many respects. The exception is that you are on the front lines in a specific community or communities and the HWC is working on a global scale to provide an event for organizations like yours to showcase the accomplishments of the participants, a chance to foster other connections with likeminded social entrepreneurs, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the participants with others who also have overcome their circumstances.
I think the HWC event is a wonderful goal for players, coaches, and team leaders to reach for - is it something that you put into your program's planning?
Continued success with your program, Damian. You couldn't be more correct - PLAY is necessary and it can be a springboard to other positive things.
Hi Damian,
I like the explicit link of sports and other programmes, i.e. that your projects seems not just to wait for some change in your clients behavior and skills to magically appear, but takes them there via the more work-skills oriented part. Is the sports part only a means to attract people to the other parts of the programme or do you see further connections here? Also, can you estimate how high the conversion rate is i. e. how many people out of those participating in the street sports go on to the vocational training?
Jasper Nicolaisen
Free University Berlin
University Challenge
Dear Damian,
This project seems very interesting since the exposure of street-sports has constantly increased. The use of sport as a tool to assist people to improve their life skills and promote their inclusion is a very valuable mission of your project. However, we have some queries about the project.
You explained that the project aims to promote a more inclusive society for the underprivileged persons. With such an interesting and attractive concept, we were wondering if you aim in the future to include people with disabilities in the street league. There might be a possibility to include them in the Directions 2 work while organizing a street league in one of the adapted sports (e.g. wheelchair street ball).
To focus more on the Direction 2 work concept, we would like to know more about the instructors of the courses. As we understand, the coaches were educated through the FA coach education system but we do not know who is educating the participants on the other skills such as CV writing and interview skills.
By educating the participants, you give them the opportunities to express themselves in the society. Inclusion in the society can be reached by the development of the excluded individual as well as by the development of the society he/she is living in. Therefore we were wondering if you aim to raise awareness among the communities about the situation of the people you target to reach.
Furthermore, we believe that among the people playing the street league you will find some talented participants. Do you have a network of partners that would create a pathway from the grassroots level to the elite level?
To conclude, the concept of the project is really interesting and we strongly believe that many people want to participate. The idea of promoting an inclusive society is meeting the aim of our project (Kids with Disabilities Project, Mathare Youth Sports Association, Kenya). If you are interested in knowing more about this project, you can have a look at our entry.
We are looking forward to hear your answers.
Kind Regards
Steffi and Pierre
Dear Steffi and Pierre,
Many thanks for your feedback and I hope that we are able to answer some of your questions.
Street League are an inclusive and dynamic organisation and constantly looking for ways to extend the service we offer. We currently have a Street League team in London with learning disabilities who participate in our football programme with the opportunities to progress into Directions 2 Work.
Regarding your question about our Directions 2 Work programme we have two full time Street League staff members dedicated to delivering our Directions 2 Work courses. Both staff members have professional experience in delivering these courses and are supported by volunteers to give our clients the support they need.
It is not currently part of our programme raise awareness in communities about the situation of our target group. However, we believe in spreading the word about the work we do and manage this through our website, through press coverage and fundraising events. We have also found that our Street League players become the strongest advocates of the organisation and are able to express how we have had a direct impact on their lives.
With support from Street League coaches some of our most talented players have moved into semi professional clubs and youth teams so there are opportunities that can lead from a Street League team to a more elite level. We believe in opening up these opportunities for all of our players and seeing them progress in the sport.
Street League has also partnered with a number of football for development events, which has provided us with additional routes for team and player recruitment and offered the participants progression options. Partnerships include:
- Street Football World Festival 2006 in Berlin.
-The Homeless World Cup ¬– we have held trials for the England team and Street League players have gone on to represent England and Scotland.
-The BBC, with which we work to deliver the Your Game project, a nationwide football tournament for disadvantaged young adults.
-FIFA/Street Football World – we are on the Board of this international organisation, which represents football for development projects and will be organising activities around the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Please let us know if you have any further questions and thank you again
What does your ‘potential to do more’ look like? We would love more details on how the scale up strategy looks like.
Also, how do you engage people? We are wondering if personal recruitment would be sufficient if your organization is to significantly expand in the near future.
Thank you for your response!
Best,
Changemakers Team
Hello to everyone at the changemakers team,
I have entered further details about Street League’s potential to do more into our entry. We believe that owing to the success of our programme delivery in London and Glasgow that we would be able to replicate this success in other UK cities and we are planning to move into a third UK city in the near future. It is currently a very exciting time for our organisation as we are working on our National Development Initiative, so in answer to you question we believe there is a great ‘potential for us to do more’ to transform the lives of those most disadvantaged in the UK using the power of sport.
Establishing strong partnerships with referral agencies is fundamental to how we operate as they are the primary route through which most of our clients first engage with Street League. These include homeless hostels, drug rehabilitation projects, job centres, probation services, social services departments, local authorities, refugee centres and Football in the Community Projects attached to professional clubs.
The integration of these partnerships into our delivery model has contributed to the success of Street League in engaging diverse client groups, while ensuring that our services complement individual support offered by referral agencies. We believe this is a strong model on which to build in the future.
Do let us know if you have any further questions.
Thanks, Gemma-Jane and the Street League team
Hello Damian,
I would love to hear more in response to the following questions:
How do you plan to grow your innovation?
What are the main barriers to achieving your impact?
How is your initiative financed?
What is the potential demand for your innovation?
What are the main barriers to financial sustainability?
Perhaps you could include some more detail in the application?
Great work. I look forward to hearing from you.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
You are to be complimented for all that you've accomplished in six years with Street League, Damian, and for what may yet occur. To have served more than 5,000 individuals over six years is astounding and, further, bodes very well for the future.
A question came up for me regarding the connection between Street Sports and Directions 2 Work. Do individuals typically join a team first and then later take advantage of the services offered by Directions 2 Work? If so, what percent of the athletes usually move on to the job support services? Additionally, does anyone bypass the sports dimension entirely and focus exclusively on the job-seeking skills? You actually have two stand-alone programs, and I marvel at the organization skill necessary to keep them both functioning well.
Steve
Many thanks for your kind words Steve, my name is Gemma-Jane and I work with Damian at Street League and I hope I’ll be able to answer your queries about the work we do on his behalf.
Street Sports and Directions 2 Work (D2W) are two separate programmes, but for the participants we aim to make them seamless with the theme of football underpinning both. Typically people do join a team and then progress but the model is flexible, in some instances people can go straight to D2W activities but we encourage involvement in the sport activities as provides a positive and ongoing engagement.
May I ask what drew your attention to Street League, are you involved in a similar project?
Gemma-Jane
Damian -- Regarding the partnerships you've formed or plan to form, I'd love to learn of who some of your existing partners are, and, more importantly, what kind of partners you'd like to collaborate with, especially in your expansion plans outside of London and Glasgow? (I ask because we're already getting some other entries from the UK, and wonder if they are some potential partners in this competition already!)
Many thanks,
Tito Llantada
Changemakers.net