Sport and physical activity can make a massive contribution to levelling up inequalities in society and our specialist partners NPV Football Development exemplify this perfectly.
As the organisation’s founder Joe Jackson says, NPV are based “right in the heart of the madness” - an area of Wolverhampton with high levels of deprivation and its closely-related issues of crime, violence, drugs, gangs and postcode rivalries.
Every Saturday, up to 120 children aged between four and 14 flock to Heath Town Park for their Levelling the Playing Field session which is split into five age groups. Playing football is the attraction for the youngsters, but improving wellbeing, resilience, lifestyle habits and life skills, building family relationships, instilling positive values, developing social cohesion and breaking down barriers are the outcomes.
“The child is the key to the house,” explains Joe. “In a very subtle way, football gives me an opportunity to have an engagement with parents who in most cases will be young and in tough situations themselves. Kids from different neighbourhoods come in and bond, but so do their parents. It becomes a central hub for everybody, and I mean everybody, across the city. No communities are left out.
“We are addressing postcode rivalries, gangs and violence – without ever mentioning them! Our sessions are a chance to interact with mum, dad, nan and older siblings and almost bring them under our wing and bring people together who otherwise would never mix.”
Attendees at NPV sessions are highly diverse. Building trusting relationships develops community cohesion and breaks down barriers between people from different ethnicities and communities. “People soon find out we are far more alike than we are different,” says Joe.
NPV place great emphasis on learning their values: consistency in behaviour and following rules, timekeeping, learning to win well and lose well.
All children are given the aspiration of being selected for the NPV Football Academy, with behaviour and attitude given equal importance to footballing ability when it comes to selection criteria. NPV has links with Wolverhampton Wanderers and several graduates have progressed into the Wolves ranks.
NPV’s impact on participants has been boosted by receiving Sport England’s Tackling Inequalities Funding (TIF), distributed to many of Levelling the Playing Field’s specialist partners by the Alliance of Sport to increase support for ethnically diverse children during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The funding enabled us to double our coaching staff on the day and become much more organised,” explained Joe.
“Parents now have to pre-register, so we know exactly who’s coming. Compare that to previously when one coach is trying to register every child and behind him kids are booting balls all over the place, the clock is ticking and parents are observing a lack of control and the session not starting on time.
“As simple as it may seem, we now have a coach with all the balls and equipment out and prepared to start bang on time as all the kids are pre-registered. It’s a massive difference. We’ve asked parents to demonstrate some commitment and consistency by booking in advance and they have responded. It has made things 10 times easier. Numbers are soaring and we get so many new children every week.”
Being part of the Levelling the Playing Field network has also been hugely beneficial, according to Joe: “TIF has allowed us longevity, to maintain our presence and build the programme. Sometimes you can feel as if you’re banging your head against a brick wall, but it [being part of the Levelling the Playing Field network] makes you realise there are people across the UK who feel exactly as I do.
“It has been a real quality experience. It’s really opened up our organisation to others in a similar situation. It's positive to know that, because sometimes you can feel like you’re on your own. I look at pre-Covid and I look at our situation now, and I see lots and lots of positives. That’s thanks to the support you guys have given us.”