Street Elite celebrates another year of success

Street Elite is a training for work programme using sport and mentoring to help long-term unemployed young people turn their lives around and start their careers.

Since 2011 the initiative, which is a partnership between the Berkeley Foundation and The Change Foundation, has engaged with close to 800 young people aged 18-25 impacted by crime, violence and inequality. An impressive 80% of those to complete the nine-month programme have successfully gone into employment, training or education, leaving a hugely positive social legacy.

Each year, Berkeley Group (which set up and funds the Berkeley Foundation) supports young people coming through the programme by offering work placements on its regeneration and homebuilding sites.

Each summer the Street Elite graduates help to hold a series of community sports festivals events across London and Birmingham to celebrate their achievements and give hundreds of local children a chance to try new sports.

On Thursday 20th June, Berkeley’s The Green Quarter hosted the annual Street Elite Festival, with over 200 school children from local schools in Southall attending for an afternoon of sporting fun including padel at Parkside Padel Club, football competitions with Southall Football Club, riding a smoothie bike, yoga, street dance, golf and dodgeball.

Yvette Santana, one of the Street Elite coaches, said:

‘We work with people who face real challenges in getting back into work or education. They may have caring responsibilities, struggle with mental health issues, had negative experiences at school or not have the funds to travel to job interviews.

At the most extreme end, they may have been involved with criminal activity.“

Alex Feldman is Deputy Headteacher at Dairy Meadow School in Southall. His Year 4 pupils took park in the Street Elite Festival at The Green Quarter. He said:

“A huge part of primary teaching is inspiring the next generation to be fearless in their ambitions for the future. At Dairy Meadow we want all children to be able to believe they can be anything they want regardless of: colour, creed, religion or gender. The Street Elite festival has opened our Year 4’s eyes to sports that they may never have considered trying before. A 20-minute session of yoga may ignite a lifelong passion that can set a learner on a lifetime of discovery, meeting new people and possibly experiencing new cultures on the way.”

Sally Dickinson, Head of the Berkeley Foundation, said:

“We‘ve partnered with Street Elite for over a decade because it delivers long-term impact. This isn’t a two-week programme; it’s nine months of sustained, meaningful change.“

Find out more at www.berkeleyfoundation. org.uk/who-we-support/street-elite