Teen from Alum Rock who faced dyslexia now empowers local kids through sport

The charity, formed as part of the London 2012 Olympic legacy, focusses on providing apprenticeship opportunities in areas where youth unemployment is high and in communities where sport can make the most difference.

Alum Rock is one of the largest and youngest wards in Birmingham and is also amongst the top 20 most deprived communities in the UK with over 50% of the population economically inactive.

Haider said: “I’ve lived in Alum Rock my whole life. It’s a tough area to grow up in as a young person. Kids don’t have many positive role models, so it’s very easy to get sucked into the wrong crowd”.

Haider delivers weekly cricket and football sessions to fifty local children as part of his apprenticeship with Our Community Foundation (OCF), a charity tackling youth employment in Birmingham through sport and enterprise.

He explained: “We create a safe space for the kids to go to; it keeps them off the streets, introduces them to an environment where they are surrounded by positive influence, and importantly promotes a healthy lifestyle through exercise. I’m always getting on at them to eat better too!”

Haider struggled at school, receiving support from a reader and scribe to help with his dyslexia, but with a talent and passion for sport, he was drawn to the idea of a sports coaching apprenticeship.

He said: “Throughout school and college my exam results were never the best. My learning difficulty definitely played a big part in that. I knew I needed to take a different route, and that I’d excel at something more hands on”.

Over a fifth of Coach Core apprentices are from learning difficulty backgrounds and the charity aims to increase that to 40% by 2027 as part of a drive to create 500 new sports coaching apprenticeships including a number in Birmingham.

To find out more, head to https://coachcore.org.uk