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More than 200 young people joined us at The Change Foundation’s Sutton headquarters as we kicked off another exciting Street Elite Festival season.
This year’s festival was particularly special because it was organised and delivered by Street Elite participants themselves. Having successfully completed the Training Phase of the programme, they have spent recent months developing their leadership, confidence and employability skills. The festival gave them the opportunity to put those skills into practice while creating an unforgettable day for local children and families.
Young people from primary and secondary schools enjoyed a packed programme of free activities including football, boxing, golf, tennis, NFL Flag and our ever-popular smoothie bikes, all delivered by Street Elite graduates alongside The Change Foundation coaching team.
We were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Sutton, Councillor Muhammad Sadiq, who met participants, coaches and community partners while celebrating the positive impact Street Elite continues to make across the borough.
Unfortunately, extreme weather meant our planned festival in Ealing could not go ahead. However, rather than cancelling the celebrations altogether, we hosted a special graduation event recognising participants from across our Tri-Borough programme in Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham.
The Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Faduma Mohamed, joined us to present graduation certificates and shared her own inspiring story of resilience, encouraging participants to continue believing in themselves as they take the next step towards employment, education or training.
The celebrations continued with a FIFA Club World Cup-themed penalty shootout led by Ash from Southall FC, before participants enjoyed a padel masterclass with Game4Padel and even had the chance to challenge the Mayor and guests on court.
As the festivals conclude, participants now move into the Employability Phase of Street Elite, where they’ll receive tailored mentoring, career planning, work placements and employer engagement to help them achieve sustainable futures.
This year also marks an incredible milestone, 15 years of Street Elite. Supported throughout by our long-standing partners at The Berkeley Foundation, the programme has empowered thousands of young Londoners to develop confidence, gain qualifications and access meaningful opportunities through the power of sport.
One festival. One graduation. Hundreds of lives impacted.
Next stop: Birmingham!
