S Press

On the 28th of November S Press attended an event, alongside Salaam Peace at the Copper Box. This is a unique venue as, not only is it a multi-sport venue, it was originally made to host the Olympics. Where in 2012, famous athletes competed in. To be in an environment where professionals played at was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The venue holds 7,000 seats which are all so luminous in the arena, which is a new experience to many.

At the event, there were series of activities that were taking place such as badminton, basketball, football, cycling, rowing, athletics, non-contact boxing, table tennis, fitness and cricket. We had around 200 young people that participated in the activities, where the young people were put into groups and systematically went around to all the different sports. This was an amazing opportunity for them to have a taster in all the sports that are available to them.

Personally, I had never tried non-contact boxing, but as soon as I came into the arena I was mesmerised by the boxing ring and the equipment that were all set up. So once I had the chance I approached the coach about boxing, and he offered to let me have a first-hand insight and experience into the sport. I learnt a basic jab which is the most important punch in boxing and just went around the ring a few times. However, with this short ten minute introduction to the sport I loved it! So I learnt that I should give all sports a try.

All content featured on our charity site is produced by young volunteers with the support and mentoring of our professional production team.

Two members of the S Press team, Shehnaz and Hatice, had the pleasure of meeting BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan at the Hackney Community Cup on Friday. Gabby Logan and the BBC TV crew came to film the Salaam Peace event as part of a new television series 'Inspire: The Olympic Journey'. Footage of the event, in addition to interviews with Salaam Peace staff and young people will feature in the second episode of the series on Saturday 31st August at 1.00pm on BBC One. So set a reminder on your TV or put the episode to record as it is one that you will not want to miss! 

On Friday 23rd August, S Press attended the Hackney Community Cup. The event took place at Hackney Marshes and was delivered by local community organisation Salaam Peace. Over one hundred young people from Hackney and Waltham Forest took part in an afternoon of sports. The sports on offer included football, cricket, rounders, fitness and athletics. The afternoon ended with cricket matches and a small-sided football tournament. See our photos of these brilliant activities below!

As well as supporting Salaam Peace, the event gave us the chance to meet some great people from other local organisations such as Ricky from Better, Sonia and Faizal from Hackney Homes and Anna and Matt from Sported. Caroline from our supporting organisation Live UnLtd came along too!

Another special guest in attendance was Tim Prendergast, a Paralympic gold medallist. Tim gave a brilliant speech about his journey to becoming a Paralympian, did some Athletics training with the young people and presented medals to the winning teams and outstanding young people. Our favourite part of Tim’s involvement was when a young person asked if he could race Tim. Tim, of course, said yes! 

Last weekend, staff and volunteers from Salaam Peace took part in an exchange trip to the Midlands. It was a weekend of team building, exercise, food and fun! The highlight of the trip was a football match against a team from Walsall. The match took place at Birmingham University's Doug Ellis Sports Complex. They could not have asked for a better facility!

A group photo of the two teams before the game: the Salaam Peace staff and volunteers are in the blue bibs and Live UnLtd t-shirts, whilst the opposition are in the Liverpool FC and Manchester United shirts. What a mix! 

The exchange trip was organised by Salaam Peace volunteer and Live UnLtd 'Be Extraordinary For A Day' Award Winner Rizwan. He said, "The UnLtd Be Extraordinary For A Day Award allowed me, with the support of Sab and Dwayne from Salaam Peace to organise an exchange trip to Birmingham. I hired a minibus, had some Live UnLtd t-shirts made and organised a football match at Birmingham University's Doug Ellis Sports Complex. The event allowed us to go to a new city, meet new people and have a great day. My friends really enjoyed it and I felt very proud that I was able to contribute to such a great experience. Thank you to Caroline and Sab for all of their support. I would especially like to thank Yunus from Birmingham and the team up there who made our experience a special one". 

The first event covered by the S Press team was the Lloyd Park Young Champions Sports Event. This was an event delivered by two community organisations, Salaam Peace and Groundwork. Around sixty children and young people from Waltham Forest and Hackney participated in the event. They took part in football, cricket, handball, basketball and fitness – ending with a football tournament at the end. The event made use of the great facilities at the newly redeveloped Lloyd Park, particularly the outdoor gym! 

Iram from S Press taking photos of the young people using the outdoor gym. It looks fun! 

The participants playing cricket on the field - one of FIVE sports that they had a go at!

The event was highly successful, combining the skills and resources of S Press, Salaam Peace and Groundwork. This promoted community cohesion, as did the wide range of participants. From the special needs group brought by the Boundary Road Asian Women’s Association to the young people from Northwold Estate in Hackney brought by Wayne, the event really did engage all! The most impressive part from our perspective was the selection of medal winners. Medals went to one participant from each age group. This was not for the best footballer or for winning the most games, but for trying hard throughout the day and having a good attitude. Medals also went to everyone in the special needs group and to the girls from S Press for volunteering their time to come to the event. So a great day all round!

Each medal winner did the full round of handshakes!

The S Press media team is now up and running! Thank you to Salaam Peace and Live UnLtd for your support in getting started! 

S Press is based in East London, primarily Waltham Forest and Hackney. The aim of S Press is to give young people the opportunity to develop their media skills, receive training and gain experience by attending and publicising the events and activities of local community organisations. So S Press benefits both young people and the wider community!

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