Showing Racism The Red Card
A 19-year-old man, who feels that Exeter lacks affordable facilities for young people, is organising a free football tournament to bring people from different backgrounds together.
Conon Adamson has lived in supported accommodation at Exeter YMCA for the last four months.
He believes that there is a shortage of affordable recreational facilities for young people in the city.
The free tournament is open to 16 to 29 year-olds.
It will be held on Sunday, March 10 from 10am to 3pm at Exeter University's Sports Park.
Working as a 'Fixer', Conon has organised a five-a-side football tournament to give young people from different backgrounds in Exeter an opportunity to come together and is inviting teams to enter.
Fixers is a charity project which supports 16 to 25-year-olds throughout the UK to take action and change things for the better, addressing any issue they feel strongly about.
How each Fixer tackles an issue is up to them - as long as they benefit someone else. "I enjoy football but there aren?t many opportunities locally in sport without having to pay, which I can't afford.
"I want to give young people the chance to get involved in something for free."
Using football as a unifying force, Conon hopes the tournament will bring young people together whose paths might not usually cross.
"Football is a great way to break down barriers between groups, and bring people together who wouldn't normally associate with each other.
"Young people judge each other too readily so I want to do something to bring them together in a positive way."
The tournament has already gained support from Exeter FC. Head of Community at the club, Jamie Vittles said: "We are finding that lots of young people drop out of sport for various reasons when they reach the age of 16.
"Hopefully this competition will kick start participants to stay fit and be healthy for life."
There is availability for 16 teams made up of a maximum of seven players.
Those interested in submitting a team can email katie@fixers.org.uk.