{"id":303748,"date":"2025-07-30T11:11:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/303748\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T11:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T11:11:27","slug":"i-love-the-power-of-football-the-u-mix-centre-is-creating-belonging-through-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/303748\/","title":{"rendered":"“I love the power of football”: The U-Mix Centre is creating belonging through sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

The Belonging Group training at the U-Mix Centre in Lowfield, Sheffield<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

\n

I know this sounds funny, but you can\u2019t really put into words what we do here. You just have to come down and experience it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lisa
\nSultanti is reflecting on our hour-long conversation about her work at the U-Mix
\nCentre in Lowfield, Sheffield. Focused primarily on sport and fitness, the U-Mix
\nis far more than this: it\u2019s a space full of movement, music,
\ncreativity and education. It is a community centre that serves local people in ways that go beyond words. <\/p>\n

Lisa
\nis the Engagements and Partnership Manager for a charity
\ncalled Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD), who manage and run
\nthe U-Mix Centre. The previous week I observed her and colleague
\nKeith Ward showing a group of children from a local primary school
\naround the centre and introducing them to more than 60 refugees and people
\nseeking asylum who come to play football every week as part of an
\ninitiative called The Belonging Group.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Keith and
\nLisa are passionate about why they want local children to be educated on physical health and to have their minds
\nbroadened by this exposure to diversity. What took me longer to fully
\nappreciate is that they just want people to experience
\nthe feeling of solidarity and community that FURD has created \u2013 a feeling that has been lost to so much of
\nsociety,
\nslowly
\neroded through years of austerity, hostile migration policies and the erasure of public services.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

What
\nfascinates me is the role that football plays in how the centre
\nfunctions, drawing people into a space where everyone benefits. A
\nwide range of groups have been set up to offer different ways into a collective, one that crosses class, gender, generation and
\nethnic lines. There are the intense sessions you would
\nexpect from a place that produced one of the world\u2019s best
\nfootballers in Kyle Walker and there are regular games that you
\nwould find on any pitch around the world. But FURD dedicates its real
\nenergy to setting up free or minimal-charge spaces and activities for
\neveryone to find their game of football, and this emphasis on inclusivity
\nis at the heart of what they are about. <\/p>\n

The Belonging Group for those seeking sanctuary is one example of
\nthis dedication and collective energy in action. It was set up in
\n2014 as a weekly game of football for refugees and people seeking
\nasylum, but grew dramatically after the Covid-19 pandemic, when Keith teamed up with Sijo Joseph and headed out into
\nmarginalised communities in Sheffield as part of an outreach
\nprogramme. 20 players soon became the 50-80 players now attending
\neach week. The demand meant what used to be a single game developed into three weekly
\nsessions, and the narrower aperture of football became a path into everything from wellbeing support, English classes and food to boxing and gym classes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

“The
\nBelonging Group is a safe place,” Keith tells me, “[a] safe
\nenvironment with a bit of structure that provides bits of education
\nand support. We offer the health, wellbeing, the football, little
\nbits of guidance and advice, mental health support and then we have
\nthe partnerships that provide deeper expertise.”\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Five<\/p>\n

Hussein, Al Kasim, Keith, Man\u00e9 and Isaak. Isaak comes on two buses from Rotherham every week to play. When I ask him if that\u2019s difficult he says, “No, no, that\u2019s easy.” He\u2019s working to improve his English, attending weekly courses. He says he is desperate for work and it’s really difficult.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two<\/p>\n

Zinc from Kenya came over with mum and brother in 2017. They were granted refugee status before coming to England. He was 19 at the time. He now works in ASOS packing centre four days a week. He did have a motorbike but it was stolen.\u00a0He now has a car which gives him more flexibility.<\/p>\n

Al Kasim from Sudan tells me how difficult it is to get work. He’s been here for three years but was only granted permission to work in January. He’s been at college two days a week studying English. He didn’t know any English before he came but now
speaks very well. He also speaks French. He did some work in a car wash as it’s the only paid work he has found.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

Sami from Sudan is 17 years old. Having arrived after an arduous journey and with no access to his birth certificate, he\u2019s stuck in limbo waiting for the Home Office to move forward with his case.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

Mo from Lebanon is an ex-professional footballer forced to leave Beirut. He was part of the group when it started in 2014.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPrevious<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tNext<\/p>\n

Keith is a sensei in its purist form and
\nthe U-Mix Centre is more reflective of a dojo than Hillsborough or
\nBramall Lane. It’s built on a shared love of football, but also with an
\nappreciation that football is a context for something bigger and far
\nmore important. Keith grew up in the local area with his mum,
\ndad and three sisters. As an aspiring teenage footballer in Sheffield
\nUnited\u2019s youth set up, his dad took him down to FURD to volunteer
\nand keep him away from local gangs. He’s now in his 40s and, with
\na semi-professional career in football behind him, he connects a
\nlifetime\u2019s experience in the game with his strong bond to the local
\ncommunity. At 6 foot 5, Keith might appear as alpha male as they come,
\nbut being
\nraised in a close-knit, loving family and having overcome a battle
\nagainst cancer in his 20s, he has developed a deep empathy and
\ncompassion for people.<\/p>\n

When I ask him how
\nsomeone so rooted in his local community was inspired to help set up
\na group for people from all over the world, he recounts being ten years
\nold when four young lads were brought into his Sharrow Primary School
\nclassroom. “They were brothers from Somalia. They spoke very little
\nEnglish and it was my first experience of having a friend from
\nAfrica. The trauma they’d faced was nothing I’d seen or heard of
\nbefore. They’d seen parents shot dead. They had to leave their
\ncountry because of war.”<\/p>\n

Trauma from
\ndisplacement is a reality for so many migrants fleeing lives crippled
\nby wars, climate breakdown and violent persecution. Added to this is the
\n impact of perilous journeys across land and
\nsea to find sanctuary and safety. On arrival in the UK, many become
\ntrapped in
\nthe limbo created by the UK’s hostile environment, with a
\nmigration system entrenched in racist colonial logics that position
\nthe lives of some humans as worth more than others. Isolated in hotel
\nrooms or temporary accommodation, waiting
\nyears for a Home Office decision
\nand banned from working, these people’s daily lives are intentionally
\nmade more miserable in the name of acting as a
\ndeterrent.
\nThis absence of state support means that communities like the Belonging
\nGroup are a lifeline to people who are part of our society \u2013 whether
\nsome people and politicians like it or not.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

A Belonging Group team who recently travelled to Hull for their first competitive fixture.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSijo Joseph<\/p>\n

“The idea of the Belonging Group was to
\nprovide the best training experience that someone could have,” Keith tells me. “Not
\n just making them work hard on the pitch, but teaching them how to
\ncoach, teaching them how to exercise. Because there’s an
\nunderstanding that we may just have these people for two hours a week
\nand they have the rest of the week to survive, to keep busy, to keep
\nmoving. That’s where the education side came into it too \u2013 equipping
\npeople with the ability to go back to their own room and exercise in
\na safe and structured manner, because exercise is how I survived my
\nexperience as a cancer patient.”<\/p>\n

On Mondays and
\nWednesdays people greet each other with smiles, handshakes, hugs and
\nrespect. They are divided into competing teams at random to
\nencourage players to mix and make new connections. As well as
\nfurnishing a network of support, education in English language and
\nsocial norms, the group\u2019s aim is to hand over responsibility to its
\nmembers, as something that is key to their personal development and
\nemotional resilience. <\/p>\n

A prime example of this is Isaiah. A
\n33-year-old man from Nigeria, Isaiah joined the group when he arrived in Sheffield five years ago. After
\na year he was invited to become an assistant coach and FURD
\nsponsored him through his FA
\nLevel 1 and 2 courses. He now works alongside Keith to run the
\nBelonging Group. He explains proudly: “I’m here 3-4 times a week.
\nMonday, Wednesday and Friday. Sometimes on Tuesday or Thursday, with
\ncoaching the kids when my own childcare and job as a healthcare
\nassistant allow. I call this place my second home. Whenever I come I
\nfeel happy. You can see the energy in me. Supporting people,
\nencouraging. It keeps me going. It gives me joy in myself.”<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

Isaiah at the U-Mix Centre<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Cattell<\/p>\n

But the success of the
\ngroup hasn\u2019t come easily. “Big
\nnumbers intimidate and people didn\u2019t like it,” says Keith, “So
\nit\u2019s taken a lot of work by staff and volunteers to make sure it\u2019s
\na safe environment, to make sure the negativity that surrounds
\nfootball, the aggressive side, the angry side, the confrontational
\nside of it is all eliminated whenever someone comes here to play.” <\/p>\n

Isaiah plays a pivotal role
\nin how this group of more than 60 strong, athletic men dealing with
\nissues of trauma, anxiety and low self-esteem can function within a
\n\u2018safe space\u2019. He takes on responsibility as timekeeper and
\ntackles problems head on when they arise. One volunteer coach
\nexplains: “It’s
\nvery important that the whole group see there’s a reaction […] and
\nit’s not ignored, and that reaction is controlled and clear.
\nIt’s how people feel safe, because they know everything is being
\nsupervised and things are being managed. Football is football. There
\nwill be occasions when people go head to head. We just need to
\nremember it’s not life or death, and we’re here to enjoy.”<\/p>\n

This
\nauthenticity is key. Games aren\u2019t paired down; they aren\u2019t
\ntreated differently to other games. Participants find a space where they
\n can be themselves, show their
\nability and feel valued as part of a team. This confirmation of an
\nidentity liberates them from definition as an other: a refugee
\nor an asylum seeker, defined through the narrow lenses of victim or
\nperpetrator, through their crossing of borders. They can express and
\nenjoy themselves in ways that are
\nnearly impossible in so many areas of their daily life.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two<\/p>\n

Man\u00e9 and Hussein from the Belonging Group<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Galandou<\/p>\n

The
\ngroup builds social connectedness, emotional resilience and physical
\nhealth for the participants and, as people
\ncome together in an activity that brings joy, they gain confidence
\nand proof that a sense
\nof shared responsibility and mutual support really can still exist. “We
\nsee the difference it makes,” says one of the coaches. “Being
\nthere at tough times, like last year with the riots in Rotherham, in
\nwhich many of our members were affected because they lived in the
\nhotel that was attacked.”<\/p>\n

A
\nrecent development over the last 18 months is the inclusion of a
\nsmall number of locals into the group. This wider community programme
\nripples
\nout beyond the initial group to connect with and support other
\nmarginalised and disenfranchised people.
\nSince inclusion
\nis a driving force behind FURD\u2019s work, restricting the group to
\nsolely refugees and asylum seekers runs counter to their
\ninstincts. How this is managed going forward will be a challenge, but
\nall evidence suggests that the FURD team are up to the task. <\/p>\n

“I love football,” says Keith. “I
\nlove football,” says Isaiah. “I love football,” says Sami from
\nSudan. “I love football,” says Zinc from Kenya. “I love
\nfootball,” says Mo from Lebanon. “I love the power of football,” says
\nLisa \u2013 who may have avoided the bug but is now fully engaged due to her
\nteenage son\u2019s passion for the game. <\/p>\n

That power is linking refugees
\nfrom Sudan with local Sheffield
\nmen on parole. This is what football can be about. But it’s not
\njust about football. FURD
\nand its collaborative work at the U-Mix Centre offer
\nan alternative to the hostile environment and racial capitalism. This
\nis radical
\ncare in action,
\noffering a glimpse of how British society could be otherwise, with
\nclear boundaries, kindness and support to help people through periods
\nof limbo and transition \u2013 a glimpse of a different kind of world-making that can really make
\nchange.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Belonging Group training at the U-Mix Centre in Lowfield, Sheffield James Cattell I know this sounds funny,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-303748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-sheffield","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114941886077610052","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}