A youthful start

Richard Allack, community development officer at the foundation, commented that he is looking forward to the interesting debates and discussions scheduled to take place over the next three days.

“I am keeping an open mind,” said Allack, who hopes that the forum will raise the awareness of sport’s role in education, which he sees as a key tool in developing social skills of youth. “Youth are attracted by the sport and we are then able to use this to achieve educational goals.”

The foundation has several departments that use sport to promote positive social change, including health and wellbeing and the inclusion of people with disabilities. Allack works on the "e18hteen" project at the foundation, which seeks to accompany young people in north London from foster or in-care to leaving care.

When asked about their interest in the forum, Allack said he came to support the work of SOS village d’enfants, a partnering organisation that uses sport as a development tool in countries such as Madacascar.

One of the featured debates at the forum asks the question of whether professional athletes are still to be seen as role models to young people. When asked his opinion on the topic, Allack responded, “I think they are role models. There is a percentage that aren’t, but there are others who are.”

Allack continued, “We should be encouraging them (professional athletes) to get out into the communities and help out. Some athletes are stuck in Disneyland and they need help getting back to reality.”