How to become a community education coordinator: Annaleigh's story

Annaleigh:

I'm Annaleigh, I'm 24 years old, and I'm an education coordinator at Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation.

In my role, the types of people that I engage with in the local community are those who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, who need a little bit more support. I think working in the community is really important to me because I just want everyone to feel like someone.

Typically, when I walk into a school, people associate me with football. However, we offer education programmes, we offer behaviour programmes, we work one-to-one with students sometimes. My focus is very much on academic improvements and making sure that the community and the school work together.

I connect with the students really well because quite a lot of the places that we go and deliver in, and quite a lot of those disadvantaged areas that those students have come from, I myself have came from that same place. And on paper, by definition, I am a child who was disadvantaged. So I'd really like to to make an impact because I feel like it's so important that people aren't put down just because of where they're from.

George:

My name's George, I'm a left back for Middlesbrough Football Club, and I'm the club captain.

I've done a few sessions now with Annaleigh and she's brilliant at what she does. Kids are always so happy. She always puts the players at ease as well and everyone seems to be having a good time. So it's good to be part of it.

Annaleigh:

In college, I did a BTEC national diploma in Sport and Exercise Science. I was also involved in a lot of extra curricular activities, leadership awards, and coaching awards.

I just absolutely loved it and I think it's the things that I have alongside my qualifications that have really helped me get to where I am today. After college, I went on to study Sport Exercise and Physical Activity at Durham University.

I was really out of my comfort zone at Durham, but now I'm really thankful for the opportunity because I can stretch myself so much more.

Putting myself outside my comfort zone was really important for me. I just look at it as a new learning opportunity. Because of where I grew up, people's expectations of me were quite negative. They were expecting me not to achieve things, rather than achieve them.

There was a lack of opportunities, but it doesn't mean that there's none at all. It just means you have to work a little bit harder, and you need to challenge yourself a little bit more to try and reach them.

And it's my job now to create these opportunities and give that support to children and young people in the same position. To give them that support I needed when I was growing up.