Reach Up Youth: Sheffield charity using sport to drive down crime in Burngreave

Reach Up Youth was founded in 2013 by local resident and mother of five Safiya Saeed, who wanted to improve the crime-stricken suburb of Burngreave, and this month reached the finals of the National Diversity Awards 2021.

The two projects Big Brother Burngreave and Sisterhood are both run by Reach Up Youth for young people between the ages of 12 and 21-years-old.

Burngreave is a multicultural community in Sheffield, with 25 different languages spoken in the densely populated area. The projects aim to create a community of local youngsters from many different ethnicities, using sports as an engagement tool.

Project founder Safiya said: “Sport is very, very important. We use it as the ‘hook’, whether it’s football, basketball, dodgeball, badminton, athletics, multigym or trips out. It’s how we get their attention – everything after that is decided by their needs. But without sport, we just won’t get them in the doors.”

As part of the projects, a progression path is set through the age groups, where participant members become leaders and ‘mentors’ for the younger ones. Their status is marked by the colour of their T-shirts (blue for high school age, red for college, grey for six ‘champions’ and black for three ‘leaders’), which are recognised on every street corner in Burngreave.

An important part of the project is the autonomy that the young people have over the week-to-week content. The black-shirted leaders decide activities based on community needs, including training and support with issues such as mental health, first aid, knife crime, identity, racism, self-esteem, insecurity and dangers of gang-culture.

Girls in the Sisterhood project work through similar issues, as well as body image, forced marriages, hair and beauty, self-empowerment and teamwork.

Safiya said: “Every single one of these young people is at-risk. Risk never leaves us as a community. Looking after one young boy around here is like picking up a rice grain. It requires funding, mental health support, mentoring, leadership, goal-setting, role models… it really does take a village, as they say.

“You’re dealing with some young people who have never had a goal. You ask them what they want to do and they just answer, ‘I don’t know’. That’s when you can expose them to opportunities; sport is perfect for that.

“You can then get them to think about the next level up, find ways to inspire them and take them out of their comfort zone. That way, they’ve got a fighting chance.”

Yorkshire Sport Foundation took over as funders of the project a few years ago, as part of the Levelling the Playing Field programme.

Safiya was delighted that Reach Up Youth, a charity she built through determination and dedication, reached the finals of the National Award Diversity Awards 2021.

She was proud to get the chance at the awards ceremony to showcase the endeavours of the young people and prove that hard work really does pay off.

"Raising their aspirations means they have to equally work hard and focus. That night did that,” she said.