Community Engagement

Our overall work is to ensure social integration, community cohesion, local empowerment, and the health and well-being of the community.

We address social issues, especially in regards to crime and anti-social behaviour which is mainly brought about when people claim they otherwise had 'nothing else better / constructive to do'. We encourage people who are isolated and / or excluded to get them more involved in main stream activities, and hence direct raw energies, especially of the young, towards more positive goals.

We also address and impact employment issues by instilling training support to increase and develop transferrable skills of local people to meet the emerging job market in sports.

We run local leagues in football and cricket; we create and develop teams from inner-city areas to participate in local and regional competitions.

Local Leagues has incorporated activities as part of the school curriculum, which include health and physical education, lunch time activities, after school activities and after school clubs.

Volunteers

Local Leagues works with student Volunteers from all three Birmingham Universities - Aston, Birmingham City (formerly known as UCE) and Birmingham. The students gain both nationally recognised qualifications in coaching and valuable coaching experiences.

Having completed an induction and sports coaching training, students coaches are placed within local schools to provide children with excellent experiences of participating in team sports and having great fun. We believe that our student coaches are excellent role models and children often aspire to being like their coaches and show an interest in wanting to learn more about university life. In return, Local Leagues rewards volunteers with various training opportunities and an annual Civic Reception through which the Volunteers gain recognition from the Lord Mayor of Birmingham for volunteering their time and their dedication to the children in Birmingham.

The volunteering commitment of Undergraduates continues to play a major role in the delivery of Local Leagues’ vision and as a development strategy through being a source of aspiration towards higher education for inner city children and young people.