A Nottingham youth leader says he is going to become "much louder" about the problems facing the area's most vulnerable as his charity feeds hundreds of people this winter. Ben Rosser, 42, is a former Nottinghamshire Police officer who left the force around ten years ago with a desire to do more proactive work around the problems he was witnessing.
To that end, he established The Pythian Club in 2014, a non-profit group based in Nottingham that aims to reduce youth violence and improve community cohesion. It offers a full timetable of weekly sporting sessions, art classes and green activities and this winter, it is once again offering its centre as a space for families to get food and warmth.
This particular service runs for two days a week and Mr Rosser says around 20 families a week are currently using it. This is on top of The Pythian Club's food delivery programme, which delivers around 100 parcels every week.
Despite the work being done by the club, Ben Rosser says that he is frustrated by the situation that some of Nottinghamshire's most vulnerable communities are finding themselves in this winter. He said: "The cost of living crisis is really hurting families in our communities and we try and do our bit with the centre being open for hot food and warmth and the food parcels we send out.
"We are really busy now and we're seeing a lot more families coming in for the food and warmth than we normally would. But we see this challenge year in, year out, and nothing ever seems to change.
"We had so much energy and effort put into the covid vaccination programme, which was absolutely needed, and yet I don't see that same energy put into trying to help people who are freezing. I think we need some absolute clarity here on just how hard it is for so many people at the moment."
Recent research from the Centre for Cities showed that the average Nottingham worker is around £100 a month poorer than last year. People in one area of Nottingham have also spoken out about how they are determined not to let their children go cold this winter.
It is such problems that first inspired Ben Rosser to establish The Pythian Club, alongside an ambition to address the needs of young people, particularly those from disadvantaged communities who may be detached from services and at risk of falling into anti-social behaviour.
Ben's work has seen him achieve several accolades, with a NET tram even being named after him. One of those to have benefited from The Pythian Club is Kamali Sales, 21, who first joined the club on work experience earlier in the year and has since gone on to work with them on several sports initiatives and on its engagement with businesses.
Kamali said: "Everything I've done here really adds to my CV, I'm going to university in October and my work at the club will help me there. I'm working on activities around making our sports sessions as inclusive as possible, such as work we're doing now on a tennis initiative, but I've also been doing a lot on engaging with businesses to talk to them about how we can all help each other."
The Pythian Club's work with young people also includes an activities and food programme during the school holidays, which it will be running again at several Nottinghamshire venues on multiple dates during Christmas. It has also recently teamed up with the Kick It Out group on a programme called 'Open Up The Badge', which seeks to improve diversity and representation within sports coaching.
But for now, one of Ben's primary focuses will continue to be on what the club can do to help those struggling through the cost of living crisis. Ben himself was born to a single mother in London and says he is now becoming increasingly angry about decisions some families are having to make.
He added: "I've got three kids myself and I think about their future and what I want that to look like. In 2023 I am definitely going to be getting much louder on what I think is wrong with our society at the moment.
"Our system is broken and I feel so angry that it's almost like I've got a volcano burning inside me. A lot of people at this time of year obviously ask me if I'm going to have a nice Christmas but I won't, because I know that so many in our community are struggling and I can't sit back and relax whilst I know that's happening."
