A collaborative initiative set up by passionate men who wish to engage young people, using sport, music and other imaginative ideas to spread awareness.

To help KO continue their work for 2020 and to move forward with our journey we need to raise funds to help us with core costs.

We are delighted & humbled that one of our volunteers is helping us with this so please take a moment and press the button below for details of our new crowdfunding page. Please show your support by donating if you can or sharing with your friends, families and communities. 

#WeBelieve 

Thank you! Michael and Ashley. 

NEWS

KickOff@3 win Football Black List Award in Grassroots and Community Category.

See Awards and Accolades tab for further details...

https://twitter.com/FootieBlackList

Monday 21st October saw the initial planning meeting for the coming year at the marvellous Empress State Building in West Brompton/Earl's Court. The view from the 27th floor as stunning as the enthusiasm and commitment from members of organisations experienced in the KickOff@3 ethos and hearing about us for the first time. I am proud to say that if it were possible, the atmosphere at my first meeting as Volunteer Administrator fired up my determination even further.

Co-Founder, Michael Wallace walked us through a fast-paced presentation on the backbone of our work and intentions to expand the range of engagement activities and the Police Authorities taking part. Current and potential partners shared their thoughts and connections were made which will likely result both in our first all girls teams, via links made between Michael and a local school, in his role as a Community Youth Engagement Officer and in conversation post-meeting to creating mixed teams from the same Borough.

We were treated to details of working within the community having the most complex challenges by Andy George of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), one of our most passionate Police Leads, with a proven track record of changing lives via the medium of KickOff@3 and a great example to those looking to sign up to host their first tournaments in 2020. We are a family and we stand by our history of working together for the good of all the communities in which we have a presence.

We also heard from our staunch champion Dr Angela Herbert, who expounded upon her pride in all of our good work, but sadly admitted to not liking football - what a tragedy. In her defence, she works through this challenge by enjoying time with players after the final whistle, hearing first hand the changes in their lives resulting from our engagement work.

Michael also introduced an informative talk by Verity Bramwell of OLLIE Foundation, our new partner for the coming year and sponsors of the 13-14s cup. There were also brief discussions on adding further value from our associations with both the RAF and local Morrissons stores in the fields of mentoring, education and broad-based recruitment, healthy lifestyles and eating habits. We have enormous potential to roll out RAF and Morrisons partnerships at every tournament, not just the finale, and will be working closely with our current contacts to achieve this.

Following some a lively discussion on how the roles of Youth Community Engagement Officers and KickOff@3 Police Leads/Single Points of Contact (SPOCs) overlap, we were treated to an enthusiaistic summary from Tracy (with the odd contribution from Deborah) our hard-working co-ordinators from the Metropolitan Black Police Association, very focussed on finishing the meeting on time.

There was enough time though, for some group photos and the handing out on of beaustifully cast coins and badges marking the 25th anniversary of the Black Police Association, which I'm incredibly proud to be looking at as I type this post.

Thanks all for a wonderful day.

Su Irwin

Please see below some wonderfully candid photographs from the day, courtsesy of Rebecca Fennell.

Contact Rebecca at https://www.rebeccafennellphotography.co.uk

This is the "National Monument Against Violence and Aggression" aka "The Knife Angel", currently on display in the grounds of Derby Cathedral.

The "Knife Angel" came about when artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre in Oswestry felt the need to raise awareness of the extent of knife crime and violence and that change is long overdue. Having had the idea to focus attention on these crimes, the ironworks obtained permission from all 43 UK police forces to collect surrendered weapons from their repositories and use them as a potent symbol of the number of violent crimes committed.

The motto coined for this project is "Save a Life, Surrender Your Knife" which has attracted many grieving families as well as knife crime prevention orgnisations such as KickOff@3. Very quickly the "Knife Angel", made from over 1000 knives, has captured the public consciousness. More than 80 families who have lost loved ones to knife crime have come to inscribe their memorials on the "Angel".

This is a personal and public battle for many of us, including the co-founders of KickOff@3, the police leads who represent the authorities already signed up and those who support the ethos of the engagement and encouragement of young people to turn their lives in a positive direction via opportunities to which we are able to introduce them.

Luckily the National Black Police Association Conference coincided with the presence of the "Knife Angel" in Derby, hence the photographs above and below, which both show a great number of conference attendees, including our co-founder, Michael Wallace and several local Police Leads. Being in the presence of the "Angel" is clearly a life changing experience and we hope that as it travels the country so does awareness of the work required to encourage young people to resist the urge to join a gang or pick up a knife in the first place.

Su Irwin

Background information from this piece was sourced from:

https://www.britishironworkcentre.co.uk/show-areas/the-knife-angel-official

Here's a little throwback for everyone on a dreary October Monday...it warms the heart.

Unearthed fortuitously by Michael, this article looks like a case of the usual suspects - Michael and Ashley front and centre, looking to pull music, football and charitable awareness together with seeking opportunities to promote the safety, wellbeing and success of young people.

Right there with them is Verity Bramwell of OLLIE Foundation, a suicide prevention charity supported by KickOff@3 publicity and fundraising to this day, and furthermore, fellow nominees for last week's the St Albans Comminity Champion Award. (See below).

Never let it be said that we aren't loyal supporters of the causes we espouse, rather they become part of our family...

Thursday 10th October saw KickOff@3 pitted against 2 of our 'Community Friends' for the St Albans Community Business Awards 2019.

We were pleased and proud to be in such talented and altruistic company. The video above shows the nominees describing their work and their passions.  We admire and collaborate with both Lee and Verity, who are considered part of the KickOff@3 family, and are proud to report that Lee Woods, the man responsible for our amazing finale banners was the ultimate winner on the night.

We look forward to working with both Verity and Lee for many years to come.

Aged 16-22? Hoping to develop organisational, management, mentoring, coaching and engagement skills to complement your degree or career progression? Love football and other sports? This could be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Kickoff@3 are excited to announce that we are looking for Youth Ambassadors to volunteer across the UK pioneering our new mentoring scheme for the 2020 season. Please send a brief email to 'connect@kickoffat3.co.uk' expressing the reasons for your interest, relevant experience, what you hope to teach others and learn about yourself.

If selected to progress to the interview stage we will ask you to complete a form tailored to showcase your relevant skills, attitudes and experience.

Good luck!

Young people of Belfast, the Irish FA, local Police and KickOff@3 representatives form a Circle of Silence, remembering those who have lost their lives to knife and hate crime. Unlike tournaments in England, and due to the singular history of the nation, the focus here is more complex and pervades society and local politics as a whole.

Generally knife crime is driven by fear and self-protection, Northern Ireland, however, is a uniquely troubled community historially based on religious grounds further complicated by racial diversity. Our first tournament in the province gave us an opportunity to learn by participating in a day dedicated to learning what we have in common rather than that which divides us, changing hearts and minds from this generation onward.

The current focus for Police Service NI and its partners is to address hate crime over sectarianism. KickOff@3 will continue to support their tireless focus on changing the old narrative into a legacy of peace and tolerance.

A little reminder of a lovely summer day.... featuring Marcus Gayle and Paul Cannoville

NEWS FLASH! 

Huge thanks to Ric Flo for writing U.N.I.T.Y. and producing a video especially for the Kick Off @3 finale on 7/7/19!

Ric Flo, is a Rapper, Graphic Designer, Immigrant, Black British Citizen and former foster child. Now, a talented musician forming part of Jungle Brown, Ric wants to give back. He runs Rap Therapy Workshops with foster kids and views it his mission to help misfits feel more at home.

Find out more about Ric & his work here www.aboycalledric.com

A very positive song that was written by TRICKS for the KICKOFF@3 football and music event In loving memory of John McCann

The Same As You was written by Tricks RTB specially for Kickoff@3 to address Mental Health.