Members of a local Birmingham mosque have successfully turned an area beset by anti-social behavior, drug use, fly tipping and unauthorized parking into a football pitch, providing area for athletes across the region.
“I realized there is a lot fly tipping and rubbish behind our mosque and I saw that the youth wanted to play football and use that space. But the space was unlevel too,” Shahid Tameez, the Imaam of Zia Ul Ummah Center, told Birmingham Live.
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“The idea is to keep as many youngsters off the streets and it gives a safe space for our students and youth to play football and socialize.
“We will soon have the presence of the police in the area and clear the place up. We want to give the community awareness that we need to keep this area clean.”
“This is just the start and now another mosque across the road has contacted us to use the field too.”
Green Area
Volunteers have surrounded the football pitch with tire plant pots to stop cars entering the space and encourage more greenery.
Barri Colder, Director of MTF Coaching Academy CIC located in Bordesley Green, also collaborated on the project.
“I’m a local lad that wants to make a difference and if I could do that through creating a football pitch where two or three roads can come use it, then that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.
“We used the tires to stop racers from coming on the grass and damaging the area. We want to give youngsters something back and I saw children using the area but it wasn’t safe for them to play in.”
Britain is home to an estimated Muslim minority of nearly 2.7 million, according to 2011 survey.
In Aberdeen, an Islamic charity successfully turned a derelict area into a modern football center last May to provide improved facilities for athletes across the region.