The programme
Through targeted training, workshops, youth club activities, and mentoring, P2P creates opportunities for personal growth, skill development, and positive social connection. It uses both recreational and structured sports to provide a strong foundation for building life skills, improving wellbeing, accessing education and employment, and making meaningful contributions to the community.
P2P has been running since 2011 and was incorporated in 2020, but they first had contact with StreetGames in 2021, through the Birmingham Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF). The programme is funded by a grant to local authorities by the Department for Education, and StreetGames is commissioned to manage this project under the Bring It On Brum! brand in Birmingham. When we met P2P, they had the local expertise to support young people, but didn’t have the financial runway or infrastructure to last past the summer.
StreetGames encouraged P2P to participate in HAF, which enabled them to widen their base of Young People, secure investment and grow. Through the HAF programme, the P2P team were able to identify significant gaps in physical activity, wellbeing provision, and safe community spaces for young people from some of Birmingham’s most disadvantaged communities.
“The programme gave us the platform, confidence, and evidence base to establish and develop Pitch 2 Progress CIC into what is now a thriving community organisation engaging over 2,500 young people annually through sport, youth work, mentoring, employability, wellbeing, leadership, and community programmes”, says Obayed Hussain, Director Governance, Sustainability & Operational Oversight at P2P.
The Impact on Young People
At the time, many young people attending P2P sessions had extremely limited access to structured physical activity outside of school. Through HAF, P2P introduced a wide range of sports and activities that were previously inaccessible to many local children and young people, particularly girls and those from marginalised backgrounds. This included football, boxing, rugby, badminton, basketball, golf, tennis, table tennis, hockey, and later NFL Flag Football.
The impact was both immediate and long‑lasting. P2P surveys showed that many HAF participants hadn’t been doing any real physical activity before joining, but the programme quickly changed that. HAF became a gateway into wider community life, with most young people starting during the school holidays and then moving into year‑round activities like youth clubs, leadership programmes, mentoring, volunteering, sports coaching, and employability support.
StreetGames has also played a significant role in helping P2P develop an inclusive and culturally relevant provision:
“Through this partnership, we have seen substantial growth in girls-only activities and female participation, helping challenge barriers that historically prevented many young women from accessing sport and wellbeing opportunities.”
They have also witnessed young people progress from participants into volunteers, youth leaders, casual staff members, and qualified coaches. This participant-to-leader progression model has become one of the foundations of Pitch 2 Progress’ approach, and reflects the long-term value and sustainability created through StreetGames investment.
How StreetGames has supported Pitch to Progress
Our approach has always gone far beyond activity delivery. In Birmingham, we have consistently focused on creating opportunities within trusted community settings, empowering grassroots organisations, supporting workforce development, and ensuring young people growing up in under-served communities are given high-quality, local opportunities where they live.
Through HAF, P2P were not only able to engage children and young people during holiday periods, but also establish long-term relationships with families, schools, community organisations, and stakeholders across Birmingham.
“The credibility and trust StreetGames brought into local communities also allowed organisations such as ours to grow sustainably and authentically.”
P2P credit StreetGames with directly contributing to the growth of the organisation from a small community-led initiative into a recognised youth provision hub, operating seven days per week from Green Lane Playing Fields.
“Our relationship with StreetGames has been transformational, strategic, and deeply impactful for the communities we collectively serve across East Birmingham. We can confidently say that without the support, investment, guidance, and opportunities created through StreetGames and the HAF programme, Pitch 2 Progress CIC would not be in the position it is today.”
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