'I now work at the youth club that changed my life'

Muhammad Isa Saleem now leads two sessions a week for DESA

Muhammad Isa Saleem was 14 when he first showed up at his local youth club to play football. Four years later, he is working there, inspiring other young people - and his colleagues have called him a "trailblazer and a role model".

"Without it, I wouldn't have the same confidence, I wouldn't have the same skills - I probably wouldn't have got into university," says Isa.

Darnall Education and Sports Academy (DESA) is a youth organisation which aims to "improve the life chances" of young people in Sheffield.

It was not long established when teenage Isa started attending in 2021.

He was first attracted to the sports sessions, but was later offered tutoring during his GCSEs and then became a volunteer. He is now studying pharmacy at university and is a member of DESA staff who runs his own youth activities.

"There's a lot of potential - but we need to dig up that potential, and DESA is a medium for that," Isa says.

Isa with some of the young people he works with in Darnall

As well as running the Friday and Sunday football sessions for 12- to 16-year-old boys, Isa, now 18, has just started his course at the University of Huddersfield.

"Before DESA, I'd want to do specific things, reach certain goals or targets - but I couldn't because I didn't have the tools or the right people around me.

"DESA gave me those tools."

The organisation also offers tutoring and "cultural capital" experiences ranging from trips to the beach to visits to theatres or museums.

Isa says these opportunities, such as a recent residential trip to the Isle of Wight, give young people "experiences people from this area wouldn't usually have".

Managing director Kamran Din says he is "humbled" that the organisation has been nominated for Make a Difference award

DESA currently has more than 4,000 registered members and Isa is one of the first to go through its volunteering pathway to become a member of staff.

"There are no words that can actually describe how proud I am of Isa," says Kamran Din, the organisation's managing director.

Kamran has known him since his early days.

"He is somebody who is going to carry this torch forward, and be a role model to our youngsters tomorrow."

Kamran also grew up in Darnall and has worked as a teacher in Sheffield for the last 16 years.

He says the youth club is about giving children hope.

"Darnall's got one of the highest crime rates in the city and it also has a range of different issues, such as obesity and social exclusion.

"Isa is someone who we are going to use as a case study to show children, if you follow this example, and you listen, and show resilience and determination - you are going to turn out like him."

DESA, a registered community interest company (CIC), has been nominated for a BBC Radio Sheffield Make a Difference award in the Active Award category - something Kamran says he feels "surprised, humbled and grateful" for.

"We all share the same passion - to change the lives of these children.

"To be recognised for that, without going out and showing people that this is what we're doing, people are seeing it for themselves, it really is a very heart-warming achievement."

BBC Radio Sheffield's Make a Difference awards will take place on 26 September in Rotherham.

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