The football club where the kids come first

When is a local football club more than a local football club?

When it’s a lifeline – and life support – for the children and young people who live around it.

Ciaran Myers discovers one such club on Tyneside.

Newcastle Benfield’s ground, Sam Smith’s Park.

Newcastle Benfield is a Northern League football club in the heart of Walkergate, Newcastle – but to its local young people it’s far more.

It’s a home from home, a safe haven.

A place to meet, be fed and socialise away from match days.

Club chairman Craig Bell says their community work “spiralled” after five local schoolchildren asked if they could come in and play football inside the club’s ground around school time.

This led to the creation of a breakfast club; a space for the young people of the local school to come in and get fed, spend time with friends and even work out before starting their day.

Mr Bell told me: “On average, we are doing 150 breakfasts a day. Some also go to the gym – we have our personal trainers in to help train them.”

The club is also in close contact with Benfield School, which is just across the road, whose pupils take part in the breakfast club.

Staff from the two organisations meet once every three months to connect and discuss ways to improve the children’s mental and physical wellbeing.

Some school classes are even held at the club, with the opportunity for those children who struggle to get through a full lesson to go and work out in the gym, to blow off steam  – which helps them through their school day.

Newcastle Benfield, a community hub. Credit: Newcastle Benfield

The club also works with pupils to help them get work placements, and even hires some of the older pupils to work as stewards at games, giving them valuable experience and a few pounds in their pockets.

Mr Bell believes it is part of the club’s duty, as a community focal point, to help out.

“We have to support these kids, show them what a good life can look like,” he said.

While there are still consequences for children who do not behave in class, the club does its upmost to help those who may struggle to get through their education, including helping pupils find a vocation.

It has even gone so far as to add a woodwork station to its facilities, in the hope of sparking new interests and potential career paths.

The club is located in Walkergate, an area where 25% of the population have no qualifications, according to the Office for National Statistics – a figure which is seven per cent higher than the national average.

The percentage of those who were economically inactive at the time of the last census is also higher than the national average, at 42.9%. This is an area that struggles, and the football club is doing its upmost to help its young people have the best possible chance in life.

It is not only the school that Benfield are helping; the club also hosts a men’s mental health club on Saturdays, in partnership with a local church group. Furthermore, the Shooting Stars childcare group, based in Wallsend, use the allotments behind one of the stands.

The connections built with the area’s young people have translated into the match-day experience, with the ‘Benfield Ultras’ fan group growing in numbers and helping create an atmosphere unique to the club.

Sam Smith’s Park, Benfield’s stadium, is a “safe space” for local children, who can go and sit in the stands with their friends after school to socialise.

The club is a driving force in creating a community spirit in their local area and testify to the old adage that “it takes a village to raise a child” through their work with the youth.

Are you a local football club or organisation helping the community’s local people? We would love to hear from you. Get in contact via e-mail: ciaran.myers@sparksunderland.com