'I was labelled a bad kid at school – now I'm helping young people make better choices'

A former pupil who was told to leave school after being labelled a “bad kid” is now helping young people make positive choices through a sports programme designed to steer them away from crime and anti-social behaviour.

Billie Fitzpatrick is a community worker with Scottish Sports Futures in Bridgeton, Glasgow, which is designed to help young people build confidence, develop trust and make positive choices.

The charity is among 51 organisations set to benefit from an additional £26m through the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities programme over the next three years. The funding comes from money recovered through the proceeds of crime.

Just three years ago, while still at school in Glasgow’s East End, Billie says her future looked very different.

She says she was advised to leave school by a careers adviser after being given a four-week warning by her teachers.

Billie now works with Scottish Sports Futures after being referred there after school STV News

“I was labelled a bad kid they wanted nothing to do with anymore. Boom, get kicked out,” she told STV News.

“I had teachers tell me I wouldn’t get where I wanted to be. They told me I had to buck up my ideas.

“When I look back now, I go, ‘Fair doos, no wonder they wanted to kick me out.’ But that’s when I needed the most help. I felt not listened to.”

Billie was referred to Scottish Sports Futures. Getting involved in its youth programme eventually led to a job as a community worker.

Through free sports sessions, the charity works to build confidence and trust, with the goal of diverting young people away from anti-social behaviour.

Billie during a dodgeball session STV News

Billie said: “There’s knife crime, gang violence, drugs and alcohol.

“Not a lot of people will open up. But having somebody like me that’s been through the experience and not judging them is a big thing. Young folk are scared to talk to people in case they get judged. There’s this front, ‘this is what you need to be like.’

“For instance, if they’re out drinking or taking drugs at the weekend, they’re hesitant to tell you because they think they’re going to get in trouble or get the police involved.

“You’re not going to get young people coming up and saying, ‘I’ve got a blade in my pocket.’ You’ll find things out through people talking.”

Billie knows evenings and weekends are when young people need activities most.

The charity’s twilight programmes run in Glasgow’s East End and North Ayrshire, with sessions soon to launch in Clackmannanshire.

‘Kids can switch off and escape from everything here’

Local community impact leader Kebba Sanneh SSP

Kebba Sanneh first went to the sessions in first year of secondary school.

Now 18, he works as a local community impact leader and is due to begin studying sport and exercise science at the University of Stirling.

He said: “School’s getting a bit more serious, life’s getting a bit more serious. When they come to sessions they’re able to switch off from that and escape for a bit.

“For a couple of hours you can forget about everything, play sports and talk to people you get along with. It’s really something people can use as a safe space.”

This youth group is one of more than 50 organisations in Scotland benefiting from money recovered through the proceeds of crime.

Kebba Sanneh with participants at the sports sessions STV News

Funding for Cashback for Communities has been increased to £26m over the next three years.

Chief executive Dougie Millen said: “Sport is the hook, but building relationships and trust within communities is huge.

“We’ve definitely seen families and communities affected by poverty, that’s getting deeper. Taking sport and these opportunities into the heart of those communities is critical.

Community safety minister Kirsten Oswald said: “I’m really inspired to be here today and see the young people taking on such amazing leadership roles in their own communities, working with their peers, friends and other young people on the ground, helping them make positive choices.

“Young people are being diverted away from things that could cause harm to them and their communities and towards opportunities that help them fulfil their potential.

“There is a big prevention focus there and an opportunity for young people to build their own leadership skills, be positive influences on others and enjoy themselves while doing it. You can see the value and the change it’s making here.”

In the digital age, youth leaders believe those face-to-face conversations are more important than ever.

Billie said: “I’m 20 and I want to delete Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook because it’s so toxic. Whatever you hear on social media, people believe it straight away and run a mile with it.

“We can’t keep them off their phones, but I can show them there are other things out there. All I needed was that wee push from my youth workers. I had to believe in myself.

“I like to say to young people with any opportunity that comes your way, grab it with both hands, because you don’t know where you’re going to go. You can be who you want to be.”