2 May 2024
This month we wanted to highlight the great work that our Partners QPA do within their weekly sessions and as key partners in the delivery of our school holiday provision.
Nelson Alves CIC Director of QPA:
QPA are a registered Community Interest Company operating predominantly in the boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth, and Wandsworth. We are a holistic football and sports coaching provider to local partners as well as our own established sessions.
The CIC is currently headed up by Tiago, Nelson, and Joseph, focusing on providing free football and mentoring to young people aged 8 to 16, as well as providing career pathways to young people aged 16 to 18.
Through the use of football and sports, we want to empower young people to propel themselves into the world and achieve their dreams.
We currently operate two sessions at BPT:
– Mondays 4-6pm (soon to be 4-7pm) for 8–12-year-olds
– Tuesdays 5-7pm for 12–16-year-olds
All our sessions are run by FA qualified coaches who are fully insured, and DBS checked. There is a QPA FC curriculum in place to improve technical/tactical, social, psychological, and physical in our young people. Our mentoring sessions focus on providing the young people with the tools to deal with the wider world, stay mentally strong and stay away from crime or anti-social behaviour.
Our coaches have decades of experience in football coaching and in mentoring young people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
From our first pot of funding in January 2023, we ran a project for 40 weeks reaching over 105 unique young people across 2 days. We have since expanded and been fortunate to recently receive significant funding from GoLondon to allow us to continue operating two days for 18 months as of March 2024.
Along with our funding work, we also work extremely closely with BPT in the delivery of all their football and multi-sports half term camp. Recently in Easter, across football and multi-sports (and excluding basketball) sessions, we reached 96 individual young people. All of this, in the space of two weeks.
Our delivery is a melting pot of all the experience our directors and staff have, providing the young people in the community with both a physical and creative outlet.
BPT Programmes and Partnerships Manager Kaity Hall:
‘QPA have been great partners to have onsite with their approach to coaching young people being well rounded and focused on supporting not only their football development but personal development through mentoring. They are key delivery partners on site and especially in our holiday camps, being the consistent coaches and partners onsite daily supporting the young people through a variety of sports and physical activity opportunities.
The Funding from Sport England small grants have enabled us to work with QPA to deliver to 8-12 years old football sessions, on Mondays, having this topped up with their recent successful GoLondon Bid to include mentoring has really boosted the offer and begins a strong youth training and mentoring pathway leading into their already popular Tuesday sessions.’
To book onto Monday sessions please visit our booking website on Upcoming events – Booking by Bookwhen or speak to any QPA or BPT staff.