Meet The Team
Following the Government's recent advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Sport Birmingham team is working remotely with immediate effect.
Individual team members can be contacted via work mobiles and email, please find their details below.
Like so many others, the sport and physical activity sector has already been significantly challenged by coronavirus and this is only likely to accelerate in the weeks and months ahead.
More importantly than ever, we need to work together to ensure our people, communities and organisations stay safe and as strong as possible. Our 'virtual' door remains open! If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.
Alison O’Connell MBE: Youth & Community Reach Out Manager
Youth & Community Reach Out Manager
Since early 2000 Alison has worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for young people and families in the local neighbourhoods she is most passionate about. These communities are in Yardley and Hodge Hill – areas which experience some of the highest levels of deprivation in the whole of the country.
It was speaking to a group of local young people who saw a life of crime as the only means to afford the finer things in life that gave Alison the impetus to change their perceptions and aspirations before it was too late.
Starting from humble beginnings running a football project in the Glebe Farm area of East Birmingham, Alison went on to secure funding through the Birmingham Children's Fund and StreetGames in 2006 to set-up her own Community Interest Company, 'FITCAP' (Football in the Community, Active Play). The CIC exists to provide activities to encourage healthy lifestyles, get children and young people off the streets and offer training and volunteering opportunities.
Fast forward to 2014 and Alison left FITCAP in the hands of her local team to join Sport Birmingham as a Satellite Club Mentor, before helping to secure 3 years of funding from the Big Lottery Youth Investment Fund to create the M.A.D (Make A Difference) Birmingham Programme.
Contact: M: 07587 034783 | E: alison.oconnell@sportbirmingham.org
