London the winner in Well London World Cup
Over 600 young people competed for the ‘Well London World Cup’ – one of London’s biggest ever youth and community football events
Over eighty 5-a-side football teams from twenty London boroughs took part in the football tournament organized as part of the Well London programme.
The mammoth five-a-side football tournament took place in the Linford Christie Stadium, White City, London W12, on Saturday 19 June.
Young people aged 11 to 17 years have been training hard for several months in sessions organised and run by Well London’s Activators® and a network of ‘Young Ambassadors’. In addition to football skills the sessions have included advice on sports nutrition to help players get in shape.
The tournament enjoyed the support of major west London clubs Chelsea, Fulham and Queen’s Park Rangers who helped coordinate the knockout competition. Over thirty volunteers who are involved in the Well London programme came along to help run the event and support the Well London team.
Well London aims to improve the health and well being of communities based in 20 of the most deprived areas across London. Central YMCA, the activity for health charity, has been leading on the physical activity delivery of the five-year project.
Mark Harrod, Central YMCA’s Director of Advocacy, commented: “It’s fantastic to see so many young people taking part in the Well London World Cup. Our team, the volunteers and young ambassadors have put in a tremendous amount of work to recruit and train their teams and their energy has been crucial in making this tournament such a success.
Family and friends traveled from all over London to support the players. Over 1200 people attended the tournament including local MP Andrew Slaughter who said: “This was a fantastic event. It required a huge amount of organisation by Well London, but it was worth it to see so much talent and skill on display and to promote healthy living”.
The hotly contested football competition was won by Blue Borough from Bellingham, Lewisham. They won in all three age categories 11-13, 13-15 and under 17 years.
Stephan, the young ambassador for Lewisham and team coach said: "It shows that when you put hard work and education into the youth of today anything is achievable."
As well as the football competition the day included:
- Dance workshops run by The Capoeira Ceara Group, Bollywood & Bhangra Dance Group, Nexos Latino Americanos: Latin Rhumba, XLNT Entertainment, and Lil’Tim the UK’s leading breakdancer
- Martial arts demonstrations and workshops
- This unique Well London programme focuses on: mental well-being, physical activity, open spaces, culture and tradition and healthy eating. Well London is building people’s skills and confidence and involves communities in designing and delivering fun activities that meet their well-being needs. A wide range of exciting community-led projects is currently taking place in twenty communities across London. For further information about Well London visit www.london.gov.uk/welllondon
- Football freestyle workshops with European champions, The Global Freestyle
- Healthy foods and the ‘smoothie bike’ – a pedal powered smoothie maker
Well London is making a big contribution to tackling negative perceptions of young people and helping to build relationships across generations. Congratulations to tournament winners Blue Borough and well done to all the teams who trained so hard to prepare for the contest.
Photographs are available of all teams and activities.