'Running the charity that helped put me on the right path'

Krishan Singh is now director of the charity that helped turn his life around aged 16.

A Coventry man went from being supported and volunteering at a charity that changes lives for youths to running it.

"I lost my father at the age of 17 and Positive Youth Foundation (PYF) was a really pivotal sort of thing at that time that supported me."

Krishan Singh, who grew up in Hillfields, Coventry, was once a teenager at risk of going down the wrong path, but is now the director of the charity that helped turn his life around aged 16.

Speaking to BBC CWR, Mr Singh recalled sport sessions as a teenager: "I like talking, so I like shouting," he said.

"I think my CEO, Rashid Bhayat, at the time noticed that and thought 'oh, instead of having him being a nuisance in the session, we'll get him on side, get him to help'."

Asked about growing up in Hillfields, Mr Singh said he thought "a lot of the challenges that you see today existed then".

He added: "It's always been a high crime area, it's always been an area where you lack opportunity.

"One of the things... [one of our younger staff] said to me, which was true to my childhood was 'it's easier to become a drug dealer than it is to get a job'.

"I think that sums it up sort of perfectly."

• LISTEN: Hillfields teen turned changemaker

The director said: "A lot of the time it's young people getting bad press, 'cos of the things they do, but it's not always their choice".

He added: "They're not granted with opportunities or the safeguards that they need to go and live a prosperous life."

Mr Singh said his background "gives you that understanding of the circumstances".

"I hear a lot of stories and a lot of it does shock me, but... you understand some of the decisions.

"They understand and know from you they can build that trusting relationship, because they know you're not gonna judge them."

The director said sport was like a "cultural magnet"

The organisation offers services to young people, including educational programmes and sports sessions, as well as signposting them to other services across the city.

"With sport, it's a really good attractor of young people and it's like a cultural magnet, it's a gateway into our services", Mr Singh said.

"These open access services allow us to access hundreds of young people, like we've got a football session... and we get 60 to 80 young people every week, and that could be two to three hundred different young people throughout the month.

"We run all our sessions for inclusion, so we're not lookng for the next Ronaldo or Messi, everyone can come and participate regardless of their ability.

"But through that it allows us to build those relationships with those young people, trying to find out what their needs are, what support there is and signpost them to other services across the city."

He said BBC Children in Need, which will be held on 14 November, had been a big supporter to the charity over the years and was currently supporting it with two grants, one of which was helping young people to access employment.

Reflecting on his past, Mr Singh said he had aspirations but "not always did you have the right opportunities".

"I went off to university [in] 2008, couldn't find a job... I said to Rachid at the time I was like 'have you got anything I could do while I'm looking for a proper job?'

"Seventeen years [on] I'm still here.

"I think once you have [support], it instills that skill in yourself. You want to be able to do that, be able to help others."