The car park kickabouts tackling anti-social behaviour in Hartcliffe
Photos: Stefano Ferrarin
“Football is a tool to build relationships,” says Charlie Perkins, flicking a football with his heel towards Jimmy Woolland, his fellow community coach with the Robins Foundation charity.
He lists some of the football-based games they set up for the local kids: regular matches of course, Wembley, where it’s every kid for themselves, and One Bounce, where the ball must only touch the floor once between each pass. “Whatever – it’s their session,” he adds.
We’re in Morrisons car park in Hartcliffe. Back in January, Avon and Somerset police highlighted the supermarket as being an area experiencing consistently high levels of anti-social behaviour (ASB). Since then, the Robins Foundation – Bristol City FC’s charity – has moved in and started organising football sessions in the car park.
Charlie says that before, kids “might have been stealing [or] being abusive to staff or the public”. But since the car park sessions started there’s been about a 60% reduction in reported incidents of anti-social behaviour, according to Morrisons, he adds.
Robins community coach Charlie Perkins shows off his skills in Morrisons car park.
“At the start, we had to go round Morrisons [and the local area], telling children about what we were doing,” recalls Jimmy, who joined the Robins Foundation through an apprenticeship. But after a few sessions, they would actually be waiting for us, saying ‘come on, let’s get the goals out’.”
Today, with the sun shining and England’s last warm-up match before travelling to Germany to compete in the European Championships being screened on Channel 4, Morrisons is quiet, and the car park’s makeshift football pitch is empty.
I ask Jimmy if this is a cause for concern. He shakes his head and points out that the project has been just a starting point for some young people, leading to deeper engagement and attendance at more structured coaching sessions, one of which we’ll attend later at Hareclive Academy.
The other week, Jimmy says, he bumped into a group of boys who regularly attend the car park sessions. “They’d been on a bike ride… to [Clifton] suspension bridge or something,” he says. “That’s a positive thing – rather than doing nothing around Morrisons.”
Both Jimmy and Charlie, having grown up in south Bristol, are on a first-name basis with many Morrisons customers who walk by, some of whom stop to praise the coaches on the work they’re doing.
Charlie says that initially neighbours were sceptical, but that now they “really buy into it,” often returning stray balls that end up in their back gardens, because they understand and support the project.
‘The ball’s just a connection to start the engagement’
He explains how the Robins Foundation collaborated with Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Police on the project. The police provide the coaches with a list of children reported for ASB, most of whom they know and have engaged with before. Then the coaches might invite these children to play football – or just start a conversation.
“The ball’s just a connection to start the engagement,” Charlie says. “On days like this, when we don’t have any kids, it’s not just a case of, ‘Right, let’s go and sit in the car’… Me and Jim go to areas where we think there might be [anti-social behaviour] going on.”
We’re hoping some of these here will eventually take our spot
We go on to do a few circuits of the area, the coaches encouraging any children they pass to join a scheduled session at nearby Hareclive School, just a two-minute walk from Morrisons. These are attended by some of the children who were involved in ASB around Morrisons.
They would have initially been asked by Charlie and Jimmy to join the games in Morrisons car park, before eventually finding their way to the more structured sessions at Hareclive Academy. Charlie and Jimmy suggest we go take a look at what’s going on at today’s one.
“I used to come around Hartcliffe when I was younger,” Charlie explains as we walk. “Then obviously, because we’ve been here four years working, we know the kids and the area really well.”
When we arrive at Hareclive Academy we stand on a small hill, a perfect viewpoint for a six-a-side game taking place on one of the two pristine football pitches. The game is in full swing as a child in a Real Madrid shirt drops a shoulder to confuse the onrushing defender, before steadying himself and sticking the ball past a sprawling goalkeeper, into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Jimmy starts organising players on a second pitch, while a fair-haired boy in a Liverpool shirt proudly shows Charlie his new goalie gloves. Charlie jokes warmly about how his team might struggle without him upfront, but the boy insists he’s a good goalkeeper – “just watch”.
Tommie, 10, one of the children who regularly attends the sessions, explains how the coaches will “always take you for a chat if you look like you need it”. He says: “[I] found out about the sessions through school, and now I come most weeks and go to holiday camps because the coaches make it really fun.”
Another player, Keira, also 10, highlights how the coaches have taught her new things. “If I wasn’t here, I’d just be gaming at home,” she says.
The Morrisons project is funded by Bristol City Council as well as Morrisons and Avon and Somerset Police. It comes in the context, though, of years of cuts to budgets for youth services, which are not a statutory duty.
The council announced in March 2023 that it planned to cut funding from £1.42m in 2023/24, to £1.23m the following year, and then to just £825,000 in 2025/26. While a big new ‘Youth Zone’ centre is planned for south Bristol, there have been concerns that its location in Knowle West means young people may be wary of crossing over from other areas such as Hartfcliffe to use it.
During the general election campaign, Labour promised to increase the number of police patrols nationwide, and also proposed new ‘Respect Orders’ with criminal sanctions for persistent anti-social behaviour. But it hasn’t made significant commitments to funding valuable youth work such as this. When you see the way Charlie and Jimmy hold these children’s attention – not to mention the falling numbers of incidents around Morrisons – this feels like a missed opportunity.
“We’re engaging with over 600 participants a week…’’ Charlie starts, cutting off mid-sentence to applaud a save made by the boy in the Liverpool shirt, before continuing: ‘…throughout South Bristol”. But he laments the lack of football pitches in Hartcliffe, with the Robins Foundation only having access to three. With more than 60 young people frequently attending some sessions, matches can be cramped and chaotic. But no child is ever turned away.
Twelve Robins football sessions take place in Hartcliffe every week, all of which are free to access – and attract around 200 young people most weeks. The atmosphere feels welcoming and vibrant.
The charity’s chief community officer, Chris Stenner, tells the Cable about the challenges many of the youth in Hartcliffe face, emphasising the “lack of accessibility to positive activity and education”.
“We find young people in the area struggle with self-belief and confidence in their ability to achieve a paid role or continue their education,” he says. “Our aim is to provide free sports sessions to inspire the young people who attend through building long lasting, meaningful relationships with our staff and volunteers.” Stenner adds that youth and play organisations in the area need to keep working collaboratively to reach as many young people as they can.
Charlie explains that most people who run the sessions are from Hartcliffe and points out several volunteers, who started as participants and are now training to complete a BTEC with the Robins, many who have hopes of eventually taking full-time positions in the organisation.
As the lad in the Liverpool shirt pushes another shot onto the crossbar, Charlie adds: “We’re hoping some of these here will eventually take our spot.”
It is a trajectory he knows well, with Jimmy highlighting that Charlie “was [once] one of the kids who used to break into the football pitches and stuff”. It was on Imperial Sports Ground in nearby Brislington where Robins Foundation chief development officer James Edwards caught Charlie doing just this, before convincing him to join one of the charity’s Friday night sessions.
Charlie smirks when reminded of the story. “Yeah, I started off as a participant… I used to come around to Hartcliffe when I was younger, so I’ve sort of done the full circle,” he says. “That’s what [it’s] about: engaging everyone.”
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It was lovely to read about the work Charlie and Jimmy are doing in Hartcliffe, many parents will have to work throughout the school holidays, and the rising cost of living often means they can’t afford to give their children money to spend on entertainment and we are well aware of the problems that arise when children mischievously find ways of amusing themselves. It would be great if more young adults could join these two young lads and increase the the work they are doing.