As part of our recently launched Virtual School, we’ve been setting our participants a series of wellbeing activities, including a range of written tasks that encourage them to self-reflect whilst using their imagination and creativity. The “Letter To A Future World” activity was designed with these principles in mind, with the main aim of giving our participants the opportunity and space to express their hopes and fears about the uncertain times we are living in due to COVID19. 

The brief set for them was as follows: 

“None of us know what the world will look like once lockdown is over, but all of us have hopes and dreams. This letter is a chance to use your imagination, to dream up a new world where things can be different. What would you want the world to look like? What things would you change? Imagine that the future world is a person and you are writing to them to express your hopes or fears about what the future holds… Start your letter with ‘Dear Future World…’”

The activity was delivered in online group sessions as part of our Virtual School. We encouraged young people to submit their final letters for the chance to win prizes from Nike as well as the opportunity to have their letters reimagined by a professional illustrator. The response was brilliant, with 32 of our young people submitting entries online. 

In order to get the most out of the experience for our participants, we are working to develop the letters into a public product that they can feel proud of - by compiling them into a digital zine. The entries were marked by Emma Townley, a sport’s journalist and creative for football lifestyle magazine This Fan Girl.

Emma was delighted by the quality of entries: “Each entry was unique and they all were very creative. The standard across the board was very high. I have been very impressed, moved and inspired by reading your different visions for the future. It was tough to mark, but there are some stand out entries. People who really dug deep and thought about their ideal vision for the future.”

Emma provided individual feedback for each letter, helping the participants improve on their writing skills whilst also giving them praise for creativity and effort. 

The 4 letters picked as winners were written by:

• Blessing Rashidi of Co-Op Academy in Manchester
• Salma Ali of William Hulme Grammar School in Manchester
• Rashaun Red-Haughton of Harris Academy Peckham
• Mia Gordon of Archbishop Lanfranc Academy in Croydon.
  
  Below are short extracts from their letters:

We’ve already embarked on our second iteration of this Letter To model, with a new activity giving participants the chance to work on their “Letter to the Future of Football”, as well as a different reflective activity entitled “Hair Diaries” which encourages young people to reflect on the importance of hair styling to their identity. Keep an eye on our Instagram to see how these develop! 

We have recently launched our very own Virtual School to help support young people digitally during the COVID19 crisis. If you’d like more information on this, read this article.

If you feel able to support FBB during these difficult times, please donate here: https://www.footballbeyondborders.org/donate/