Sheffield junior football club to help clean up their community following fly-tipping rise

Youngsters in a Sheffield suburb will make the most of the school holidays and end of the football season by helping to clean up their community following a rise in fly-tipping.
Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.
Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.

Around 30 members of Darnall Football Academy will take to the streets on Wednesday, August 7 for a litter pick after Sheffield Council wrote to residents about an increase in waste being dumped in the area.

Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.
Darnall Football Academy held a parade through the streets last year. Picture are last year's under-7s. Picture: Chris Etchells.
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Abdul Malik, founder and secretary of the club, said he hoped that when people see the youngsters on the day it will make people think twice about dumping litter.

He said: “Something like is more than needed in the area. The council has literally just sent out letters out that people are fly-tipping and that it was leading to more rats in the area so it’s very timely.

“Darnall has a reputation of fly-tipping and being generally a very untidy area, we think it’s a good idea to involve children from the age of five to 16 along with their parents to send a message and have pride in where they live.”

Darnall Football Academy was set up to help bring children from all backgrounds together.

Darnall Football Academy held a parade down Staniforth Road last year. Picture: Chris Etchells.Darnall Football Academy held a parade down Staniforth Road last year. Picture: Chris Etchells.
Darnall Football Academy held a parade down Staniforth Road last year. Picture: Chris Etchells.
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The club began in 2013 and numbers soon grew as word spread around the suburb and surrounding areas.

It marked success in its first competitive season last year with a parade through Darnall.

The academy, which is run by around 20 volunteers and three paid staff, started with a parent taking his child and a few friends to play football.

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There are now hundreds of youngsters, who live in areas across the city including Darnall, Handsworth, Tinsley, Firth Park, Sharrow, Nether Edge and Parson Cross.

And they hail from all sorts of different backgrounds - Bengali, Pakistani, Somali and Libyan children play alongside Yemeni, Indian, Kurdish and English children.

The litter pick will take place on Wednesday, August 7 with the group meeting at Balfour Carpets, Staniforth Road at 1pm.

For more information search Darnall Football Academy on Facebook.