Football and poetry aren’t seen as natural partners, but a National Football Museum project is changing that view. Streetspeak aims to engage young people aged 10-18, including those from areas of depravation, in writing and performing football poetry. Sounds unlikely? Maybe, but it’s working, with over 85% of those involved feeling ‘more confident and positive about (their) writing’ and over 85% feeling they ‘have discovered a new skill’.
The National Football Museum’s Streetspeak project, funded by the Football Foundation and the Arts Council, has assembled a team of award winning, nationally acclaimed poets, including Paul Cookson and Terry Caffrey, to deliver the sessions. It has just entered its second year of a four-year programme with the launch of a brand new website www.streetspeak.org.uk, featuring:
PLAY: an interactive football game which leads users through the process of writing a poem.
GALLERY: Video clips of poets giving guidance on how to start writing a poem, and tips about writing in particular styles.
GALLERY: Showcasing the first year of the Streetspeak project.
The response to Streetspeak, by young people, the organisations involved (Youth Offending Team, Preston Youth Inclusion Project, INTACT, Playing for Success and Groundwork) and the wider community has been overwhelmingly positive. Irfan Master, Manager of Reading the Game with the National Literacy Trust, who visited a Streetspeak session in June 2009 said, ‘They will go away with enhanced vocabulary, speaking and listening skills and they’ve been told they’ve done well. It will be a lasting memory.’
Project Manager Lesley Parkinson said, ‘The project is going from strength to strength during its second year. Not only has the website gone live, but there’s greater demand from existing organisations for sessions, more organisations coming on board and a bank of resources being created so that young people can continue writing poetry after taking part in Streetspeak sessions.’ She continued, ‘ It will culminate in 2011 with an exhibition of the young people’s work which will be displayed at the National Football Museum.’
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