Last week, Fight for Peace welcomed not one, but three elected representatives to our Academy in North Woolwich. Walking through our doors was James Asser, Labour MP for West Ham and Beckton, new Mayor of Newham Forhad Hussain, who gained his seat only weeks ago, and Stephanie Peacock, Minister for Sport, Tourism, Civil Society and Youth.
Welcomed by our CEO Lee Hemmings and our Chair of the Board of Trustees Lisa Ronson, this visit highlighted the vital role spaces such as these play in youth development. Passing through our Academy’s gym, past the vibrant impact decorated across its walls, it was clear how important sport and additional youth services such as mentoring, education, employability support and youth leadership opportunities are. All services that we offer here.
Minister Peacock said: “Fight for Peace plays a vital role in the local community. From reducing inactivity to tackling male loneliness and encouraging women and girls to get involved and stay involved in sport, they are making a huge difference to young people. It was a pleasure to visit.”
Beyond the local impact, we also discussed our national reach as we detailed training programmes in coaching – the Life Champions course – and youth leadership that are already making a difference to thousands of young people across the country.
As MP James Asser reflected: “Fight for Peace is a local organisation that is deeply rooted in and valued by our local community but with a strong national reputation too. They’ve shown that you can be a local inner-city organisation working in the local community but use that experience to have an impact that spreads far beyond Newham.”
Looking to the future, we are not slowing down as our current work looks to get even more young people active, to support the national effort to reduce violence against women and girls, and to tackle male loneliness.
Mayor Forhad Hussain commented: “There is a real opportunity for the Newham Academy to become a national centre of excellence for sport-for-development practice – combining frontline delivery for local young people with the training and development of practitioners from across the country.”
There was a unanimous view that our organisation is uniquely positioned to share our learnings across the wider Sport England systems network – not only within boxing and martial arts, but through proven approaches and best practice that can be applied across multiple sporting disciplines.
As CEO Lee Hemmings beamed, “Today, we shared our vision for why these spaces are so integral to providing young people with the tools they need to succeed – both in the ring and outside of it in life.”
Last night was a masterclass in collaboration with those holding political and local influence sharing a vision of how young people can continue to be supported – by building resilience and confidence through sport, autonomy through leadership, and belonging through spaces like the one we champion.
Fight for Peace offers a range of services and programmes to young people aged 7-25 across combat sports, education, employment, mentoring, and youth leadership. Check out our timetable to see what sessions we’re holding or contact us at info@fightforpeace.net.
