Thursday 10 February 2011

Drug rehabilitation through football


Colm Whitty speaking about Air Football and its impact on the local community

His work attracted the attention of Sky Sports and in one of it's most well known pundits Ex-Premiership and England Footballer Garreth Southgate.
Garreth Southgate a very welcoming and warm individual.

I recently attended the AGM for Air Football a Redbridge Charity (held at Redbridge Sports centre) focused on bringing community change through sports. Colm Whitty the leader of the organisation is a welcoming and passionate man, who has transformed lives through his dedication and commitment.
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Colm has been working with the Police, ASBO, Local authorities and other agencies to put young people on the road to recovery. By using the discipline of football to improve the physical, emotional and psychological aspects of end users of his service in tandem with pathway guidance to other services he has had great impact.
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He was applauded by Footballers, the Police, Local authority drug teams, pupil referral groups and many of the victims, for his work that is being used as a benchmark for good practice. The AGM was featured on Sky Sports.
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Ex-drug users spoke of their refirmed character and the encouragement and persistence that Colm showed when working with them. It made Colm almost choke with tears - their could be few others in the room that were not moved by the testimonies these young people gave.
An overriding theme from those speaking at the event was the remarkable difference his group has had, when compared to other similar organisations. Having known Colm in a personal capacity especially through his help with organising a football tournament for Redbridge Carnival in 2009 I have to say that I confer with the majority of his fans - his success is much due to his personality and passion.
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I wish him great success in the future - if anyone would like to learn more about his group please view his website:

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