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A group of 30 budding footballers from Stepney (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) are currently preparing for a once in lifetime opportunity to visit India. Stepney Football Club based in an inner London Borough has been working extremely hard to arrange this trip. It has taken the club and its partners about one year to prepare for this whole trip. The Chairman of Stepney FC Mr. Abdul Bashar said "everyone in the club deserves to be congratulated for their effort especially the young members of the club".
The selected young squad members of Stepney FC will attend Tata's football academy in Jamshedpur, where they will receive intensive coaching on their football skills. Apart from football, members of the tour party will take part in charity work in partnership with local NGO's. Stepney's general secretary Mr Akik Miah said "this is an amazing opportunity for young people of Stepney where they will not only learn more about football, but will also significantly increase their awareness on issues such as poverty, culture and customs of a different country. He continued by saying "this trip will focus on individual development and I am sure our boys will bring with them whole raft of experience which will help them further their career".
Over the last six months Stepney FC's partner organisation Tata Consultancy has been very supportive with the preparations. Recently, a group of young people were invited to Tata's Victoria office to present a proposal for funding to help pay for some of the India trip cost. Syed, Minhaz, Hassan, Russel and Anhar presented their proposal to 50 senior personnel of Tata. Indeed, the outcome of this exercise was a very positive one where Tata Consultancy agreed to pay £10,000 towards the cost of the whole trip.
Over the next few weeks Stepney FC will be continuing with its fund raising activities and are asking people to help out as much as possible. If anyone wishes to find out more about the trip or simply want to make a donation towards this trip please contact: Afazul Hoque (treasurer) on 07960974938
On Saturday, 21 st October around 25 young squad members of Stepney Football Club attended a day of training hosted by Tata Consultancy at their London Office. This was a break away from their normal football training and swapped their boots with a suit! For sometime, many youngsters from the Ocean estate in London Borough of Tower Hamlets have been involved in organising a trip to India where Tata Group of Companies have a Football Academy.
These young people who come from one of the most deprived neighbourhood in the country spent the whole of Saturday preparing for a business case which they hope to present to receive financial assistance from various public and private organisations.
Senior officials from Tata Consultancy were on hand to provide advice on many aspects of a successful business case including how to be a 'professional' and the value of 'team working'. This was an opportunity to 'capacity build' these young people where they feel confident to aspire for higher achievements in life.
Stepney FC's Honorary President, Cllr Abdal Ullah also a senior Cabinet Member at Tower Hamlets Council joined the group to encourage and provide guidance on their preparation. Cllr Ullah said "Tata Consultancy has been working closely with us in this awesome opportunity and we are grateful for all the support they have given us so far." He continued by congratulating the young people for their effort so far and reminded them this was a "once in a life time opportunity" and asked them to keep patience by working closely with each other and their senior officials.
