Tackling gang culture to create Rising Stars

that, got them on the day trips, and this is where they open up to us.

“In Coventry they’re still on their guard and won’t open up, they’re very cautious about the activities they’ve been involved in, when we’re out in the country there’s no signal and you’re walking for hours on end, you’ve got no choice but to talk, and that’s when they open up.

“Just them opening up about their lives is fascinating and you can pitch in on how they can resolve things.

“It’s only been going three months, but they’re now saying what next?”

Last month the group completed the gruelling three peaks challenge, covering 26 miles at an ascent of nearly 10,000 feet over 24 hours.

Mr Maqsood said that the difficult part was the drive between the three peaks, “but the group were kept motivated by listening to inspirational Beyonce tracks.”

“The fastest time was recorded by member Jibril N’diaye who managed to complete the 24 hour challenge in just over 20 hours, completing Ben Nevis the tallest mountain in an amazing three and half hours. The final person to complete the challenge managed to do it with a mere two minutes to spare” Mr Maqsood said.

Although they originally ran their activities in Edgwick Park, which has recently been the subject of police dispersal orders, they now have no base.

Government data through the indices of deprivation puts Foleshill amongst the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in the country.

Foleshill born Mr Maqsood said: “It’s about the life opportunities, things that other families take for granted such as travelling, or kayaking, they won’t do. The majority of these lads had never been to Wales or Scotland, they never knew these places existed or that you could drive them, but that’s their life experiences and what living in the inner city is about.

“The problems that we have in Foleshill, it’s got a lot more serious than young people, previously you’d have the odd fight or odd stabbing, at the beginning of summer, just as we were coming out of lockdown, young people were getting frustrated.”

Reflecting on how Foleshill has changed, he added: “The old Jamaican, Indian community moved out of Foleshill, the Pakistani and Old Gujurati remained, the old lot who are still around and are second and third generation.

“These are young men who need to do something with their lives, so they’re going to organise something themselves.”

And where do the young people that join come from?

“You’ve got people that are Tanzanian, whose parents have only been in this country for a decade, there’s Palestinian, Yemen, Libya, Irish. It’s a fair mix, that works for us, the banter as you can imagine is off the scale, they will rip into each other’s cultures.

“As long as there’s an idea that you’re all part of the same organisation.”

They target those aged 17 to 22, and girls are also involved, as well as there being female volunteers, but Mr Maqsood said the ‘distraction project’ of hiking, is boys only, “as it is predominantly boys that are being recruited into the gangs.”

He also expressed concerns that newly arrived young people are particularly vulnerable to gang recruitment, which in itself is a complex machine.

“We’re getting a better understanding of how gangs work with theses gangsters. It’s frightening, how organised they are, when you look at how it’s set up, the hierarchy, people are groomed into roles, and you think flippin’ hell it cannot be these youngsters that can go into this, the youngsters are just fodder” he said.

Mr Maqsood has said that reports of the group’s members being involved in anti social behaviour is decreasing, but the worry remains on how they will withstand external pressures, as uncertainty around

Covid-19 continues.

Member of the group Seif Salim said: “Before this I thought having fun was paint-balling, go karting or to the cinema, never did I think climbing mountains would be beautiful and a life changing experience.

“It was so good to get out of the city for a couple of days and forget about all the hassle on the streets”.

The group is self funded, and runs on grants from local organisations, like the Heart of England Community Fund.

The group are now planning further adventures, hoping to climb Mount Tabukul in Morocco, North Africa’s highest peak.

You can find out more about Rising Stars Youth Group by emailing group chair Ayaz Maqsood: ayazcov@yahoo.co.uk