Northern Lights: I realised that I could not continue to fund this out of my own pocket anymore

I’ve had the chance to be on BBC breakfast live; on BBC look north; ITV calendar a few times; won 5 awards, including one from the mayor and others nationally; written a book; implemented 8 weapons bins across South Yorkshire; stopped over 500 weapons from reaching the wrong hands; given out 20 Bleed control kits; But most importantly engaged with a lot of people, especially young people: 70% of schools in Sheffield, and schools throughout South Yorkshire, reaching thousands of students. I have visited 3 prisons, talking with over 150 prisoners; universities, children’s homes, football tournaments, any facility that I could spread awareness to I have.

Over the past 5 years, as I have grown and developed a deeper understanding on issues surrounding serious youth violence, so have my strategies to the solutions. This all started from the anti-knife crime campaign #Keep Sheffield Stainless, when I saw a dramatic rise in knife crime amongst young people. Drawing from my own experiences I thought the greatest solution was; Prevention to be delivered via education and Intervention in the form of weapons bins and weapons collections.

After going into schools, engaging with young people and doing research around South Yorkshire I found that the issue was not the knife, it was is the mindset of the person holding the knife. If they have a violent mentality, they would use anything as a weapon to cause distress or injury, not just a knife. Additionally, after finding out the issues were a lot deeper than what I first thought, I realised that the I could not continue to fund this out of my own pocket anymore. I created Always an Alternative, a not-for-profit business, to challenge the mindset of young people around serious violence, gang culture and anti-social behaviour.

There was nothing wrong with being a non-profit organisattion, it allowed me to gain access to little pots of funding to enable me to create innovative projects such as art exhibitions and parent drop-ins. All of which created the opportunity to reach more people, offer support, spread the awareness further and make more of a difference.

It was becoming apparent that if I continued to work this way that I would become the sole reason why Always An Alternative was not reaching its full potential. I had help from others but I was the doing all of the engagement and realised like any other human there are only so many things I can do at once; I needed staff. The issue with these small pots of funding was that a lot of them did not pay for staffing so I was unable to allow Always An Alternative to grow.

The other option was to become a Charity, this option was explored years ago but what was off putting was the fact that I would not be in control of the idea that I founded. This may come across as selfish but it was meant with the purest of intentions. My time in the “charitable arena” has taught me that it is even more cut throat than the private/for profit industry as community groups and charities often have to battle for the same funding.

However, on my journey I have met some incredible people, some from the very beginning, others over the years. But all have supported me and most importantly, flourish in areas that I do not. Which, when put together would make the perfect blend of trustees for the board. So, the decision to become a charity was made easier.

After getting some guidance on filling in the application form by Janet Wheatley a mentor from South Yorkshire Charity Mentors, Myself and Jo (the chair) decided to do it ourselves. Jo did a fantastic job with the application and in exactly 6 weeks from sending the application off, we were granted charity status by the charity commission.

This is unfamiliar territory for me as I have never let other people make decisions and decide if my actions are right or wrong. I’ve always had a vision to solve a problem and stormed on. But I have trust in the trustees and understand that you need to leave your comfort zone in order to grow and I am forever ready for the next step to develop.

Meet the triple A team: Jo Beeley, the chair and successful business owner. Nancy Fielder, Editor-in-chief at the National world cities. Sheldon McDonald, university student and professional boxer. Dave Hembrough, Head weight lifting coach and frontline community researcher.

The next steps for Always An Alternative CIO is to create jobs for people in low work areas and continue to raise funds and donations for our mobile youth club. If you have access to the following or can get us a discount please get in touch:

17-Seater ford minibus, DJ controller, monitor speakers, PS5/Xbox 1, Apple/windows laptop x 3, hardware (Chip board, crews, wires, plug sockets etc), a carpenter, vehicle wrapping company and an electrician.