Voices Change with Sport 4 Life UK
At Sport 4 Life, we believe in a level playing field where every young person has the opportunity to create a better future for themselves.
In some of the UK’s most deprived areas, many young people are leaving school without qualifications, struggling to find work, or facing a growing mental health crisis. In Birmingham and across the West Midlands, the need for support has never been greater.
Through sport, mentoring and employability support, young people aged 11 to 29 develop the skills, confidence and direction needed to move into education, training and work.
Hear directly from young people who have taken part in Sport 4 Life programmes.
“I was really sceptical about what to do after uni and what to do after my college years. Now I’d have talked to someone from Sport 4 Life, I’ve got a better idea what to do and what career path I want to choose after my college.
“I was anxious about my future and a bit worried about job opportunities.
I was really skeptical about what to do after uni and what to do after my colleges. I was registered with the job centre at the time, struggling to find work and struggling to get the kind of job that I wanted to get.
I think before I was just really shy and in my shell. I didn’t really take the time to speak to people or anything.
Now that I’ve talked to someone from Sport 4 Life, I’ve got a better idea of what to do and what career path I want to choose after my college.
My confidence has massively improved, feeling like I can actually do further interviews and start applying for more jobs.
I’ve gained a lot of leadership skills and it’s helped with my public speaking and working in a team. It’s helped with my confidence, socialising and talking, and understanding how important it is to learn from other people and how different people are.
I would have thought mentorship wouldn’t have been something that would change my views dramatically, but with Sport 4 Life and the mentorship that I had, they told me that there are other options that I can choose. Instead of just going for computer science, I can go into mathematics with the other subjects that I’ve done, or I’ve got other career paths that I can go into.
I had a mentor and he helped me with CVs and cover letters. I did some sessions around life skills and then I started attending the sport sessions. That really helped with my confidence and belief in myself.
The coaches there encourage you to do more so that you’re not feeling left out or bored.
It’s a really great experience and helps you boost your confidence and meet new friends. Icebreaking activities, talking and communicating with each other, going to NCS, meeting new people. It just opens your eyes to how big the world actually is.
We’ve had talks about different topics and they really help you employability-wise and with work experience.
It has given me a positive outlook on life. I’m not afraid to put myself out there anymore and it’s really helped change my life.
It just gives you a lot of opportunity to do more stuff in the future.
It’s changed my life.”
Watch the Make a Change video to learn more about Sport 4 Life.