Bristol football club that tackles youth violence launches fundraiser

About 50 to 60 young men attend the sessions each Friday

A football session that aims to keep young men away from violence is fundraising to secure its future.

Football Fridays, run by Freestyle Bristol, is attended by up to 60 young men and boys, aged 10 to 30 years old.

Delroy Hibbert said it is "really important" to recognise the temptations for young people on the streets, and to "offer diversionary activities".

He added he did not want to charge people more to attend, which he believes would put them off coming.

"We don't want to raise costs and lose half our numbers because that would be the half that especially need to be engaged with something positive," Mr Hibbert, managing director of Freestyle Bristol, said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol, he said: "When there is tension on the streets, you want to be able to offer young people, especially young men, something as a diversion away from getting involved in negative elements of what young men do."

Delroy Hibbert has been working with youth groups for over a decade

Mr Hibbert, 55, from Bristol, said it was important to keep the sessions going, especially following a summer of "some quite unpleasant incidents involving young people".

He said the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Eddie King Muthemba Kinuthia on 21 July was an example of why the football group is important.

"When people were talking about it and there were numerous young people around on the streets that night, I thought to myself well 40 to 60 young men weren't there because they were at my football session," he said.

He explained that he often hears of "postcode wars" in Bristol but that his group helps combat that as they have people from every postcode, meaning friendships are forged and stereotypes challenged.

The stabbing of Eddie King Muthemba Kinuthia, from St Pauls, shocked the local community

But Mr Hibbert said that as a social enterprise, funding the Friday night football session is proving challenging.

The youth worker set up the sessions at Fairfield School playing fields, in Horfield, two years ago.

He charges £2 for people to attend a two-hour session led by four coaches.

The session costs £350 to put on, which meant Mr Hibbert had to pause training at the end of the summer until they secured some temporary funding from Bristol City Council.

But he said that too will run out in April.

The group has now launched a fundraiser hoping to raise £5,000 and is asking for companies or individuals to sponsor them.

Mr Hibbert said: "I know that if we were to raise the costs of the sessions, a lot of those young people would not turn up anymore and it's really important we keep the session going."

Bristol City Council have been approached for comment.