Story:Abtisam Mohammed
The High Flyers, a local informal youth group, was recognised by the North East Community Assembly with a ‘Heart Of The Community’ award on Friday 18th March.
The young people who came to accept the award were clearly upset because their good friend Abdulla Awil Mohamed, who regularly attended the activities, had died the night before. Dedicating the award to Abdulla, Yasar Mohamed said:
“Abdulla was a good kid who was friends with all of these kids. This one’s for you, Abdulla.”
The group, mainly boys of Pakistani, Somali and Yemeni origin, works informally in the area for other young people. They do regular football training every Friday and Saturday at the Woodbourn football stadium and have organised scuba-diving and go-karting activities.
They have also put on performances in Burngreave, on achievement, gangs and drugs. It’s all for the sake of helping others, regardless of postcode or ethnicity.
To build their skills, they all did the Level 1 in Youth Work; some have gone on to university to pursue youth work as a career. Because they are young, the children listen to them, no matter what they are involved in. When young people in Burngreave get bad press, it is good to recognise those doing important work on the ground, keeping young people off the streets and engaged in positive activities.