Thank you to everyone who participated on Saturday December 1st and Sunday December 2nd as Broomwood FC played their part in a campaign to raise awareness and sought to make a stand against the scourge of knife crime which is impacting on so many young people in London and beyond. We joined forces with the coaching team at St Matthews Project (http://www.thesmp.net) to highlight this issue and make a stand.
The catalyst for the weekends action was the death of 16 year -old John Ogunjobi who was a member of the St Matthew’s Project and played for SMFC from U10s to U14s in the London County Saturday Youth Football League. He was stabbed and killed on November 5th in Tulse Hill, South London. John’s was the 119th murder in London this year and came only a few days after the murder of 17 year old Malcolm Mide-Madariola, outside Clapham South tube station – a stabbing that took place only a few hundred yards away from where our BFC young footballers play their football every Saturday.
St Matthew’s and Broomwood Football Clubs were joined by clubs in the London County Saturday Youth Football League and in other leagues around London and beyond to observe a minute’s silence before all league games on Saturday 1st December.
This will be a chance to commemorate John and to spread the message – both via our club networks and social media – that we in the youth football community are united in an effort to stop the scourge of knife crime, particularly across the capital.
We are sensitive to the fact that we have a large number of young children in the club for whom this subject is either difficult to comprehend or inappropriate given their age. There is no compulsion to be involved and we respect different perspectives on this issue.
In the New Year we will be looking into adopting a Charity of the Year for Broomwood FC and charities which are involved in addressing the rise of knife crime are under consideration. We would value the input of any of our parents and supporters who have recommendations. Please get in touch on admin@broomwoodfc.co.uk
