Sportslink was established in 2012 to deliver sport, coaching and community activities for children and young people in Tower Hamlets. After a pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, we're now relaunching from Meath Gardens Park.
Founder & Director
I started out as a sports coach, and my years of community work in Tower Hamlets showed me what sport can do for children, young people and families. That experience led me to establish Sportslink: a local organisation that uses sport, youth work and learning to bring people together.
Established in 2012 and based in Tower Hamlets.
Company No. 08096805
Sportslink was established to give local children and young people somewhere positive, active and inclusive to spend their time.
One of our earliest and longest-running projects was CASI (Community Aspiring Sports Initiative), delivered in partnership with the Tower Hamlets Sports Team. CASI gave girls aged 7–11 the chance to take part in open football sessions — often their first experience of organised sport.
Building on CASI's success, we progressed to setting up the borough's first girls' football team, Tower Rovers FC, and went on to establish a boys' team as well.
CASI — free open girls' football sessions, delivered with Tower Hamlets Sports Team (2012–2017).
CASI session in action.
Tower Rovers FC — the first girls' football team we created in Tower Hamlets.
Over the years, Sportslink's work has grown to reach children, young people and families right across the community.
A mini 5-a-side league for Somali youth, alongside our annual Kulan Cup (Cohesion Cup) — a tournament designed to unite Somali youth, which drew teams from other boroughs including Newham, Hackney and Lewisham.
Signposting and providing FA Level 1 coaching courses to local young people aged 18+, helping them become qualified coaches and volunteers.
Open coaching sessions for boys aged 7–12, which proved highly popular, regularly attracting around 30 young people per session.
Our Aspire project, delivering coaching sessions for people with SEN and disabilities, taken directly to community centres at their own bases.
Coaching in primary schools, with schools hiring our qualified coaches to deliver sessions for their pupils.
We closed our activities temporarily during the Covid-19 pandemic. We're now relaunching Sportslink, and our aim is to seek grant funding to deliver five connected strands of activity — Education & Coaching in Schools, Employment & Training, Youth Work, Sports & Leisure, and our Multipurpose Service — all rooted at Meath Gardens Park.
Sportslink does not currently have a community centre of our own to operate from — every session we deliver relies on us hiring a site. This makes it harder to plan, invest in equipment, and offer the kind of consistent, always-open base that children, young people and families can rely on.
We are asking Tower Hamlets Council to make the vacant Community Hub building within Meath Gardens Park available to Sportslink, so that we finally have a permanent home from which to deliver our programmes for the local community.
Marked on the park's welcome sign near the Roman Road entrance, close to the Multi Use Games Area and the Meath Gardens Children's Centre.
The Community Hub (circled) on the official Meath Gardens Park map — the site Sportslink is asking the Council to make available as our permanent base.
Support our campaign for a long-term base at the Community Hub, so we can keep growing our programmes for local children and young people.
