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

Around 40 members of Darnall Football Academy took to the streets for a litter pick on Wedneday after Sheffield Council wrote to residents about an increase in waste being dumped in the area.

Abdul Malik, founder and secretary of the club, thanked everyone who took part and helped out the children at the event.

He said: “At Darnall Football Academy, our ethos is to educate our young people to take pride in the area we live in, be responsible human beings and send a message to the rest of the community to make the world a cleaner place.

“With a massive rise in fly-tipping in the area, the council sent out letters warning residents there had been a rise in rats. The message sent out today was: ‘Recycle your rubbish by using the relevant bins and always take pride in your area.”

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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.

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.

For more information search Darnall Football Academy on Facebook.