Cardiff man inspiring young people to unlock their potential wins support of Neville Southall

A football-mad Cardiff Fixer on a mission to inspire young people to try something new and unlock their hidden talent has won support from former Wales Goalkeeper Neville Southall.

Fixer Ash Randall, 24, discovered his hidden talent for football free styling when he was a bored teenager and it has given him a goal to succeed in life.

“Before I discovered my talent I was just like any normal teenager; hanging around after school on the street, not really doing much,” says Ash.

“I saw an advert on TV with a guy doing football tricks and skills. The skills caught my imagination and from that day I was out all the time practising and practising, and it changed my life.”

Working with Fixers, a charity which supports young people to ‘fix the future’, Ash has created a short film – a mix of animation and live action – showing his journey from teenager to worldwide performer and record breaker.

Ash is a member of SBX Entertainment Team, and has appeared on TV shows watched by millions of people.

Ash recently performed at the Breakin’ Out Festival in Abergavenny, where he met up with Neville Southall.

“Neville Southall has been an inspiration to thousands of people,” says Ash.

“Obviously you have got to put the work in to be where you want to be. Neville has trained lots and lots to get where he did, but a lot of young people give up because they can’t do it at first.”

Neville thinks that is important to support young people and help them find their talents.

“I think a lot of people give up because somebody somewhere doesn’t believe in them,” he says.

“When you’re family don’t encourage you, or you can’t go somewhere you’re encouraged, it’s really, really difficult to get into that environment where you feel comfortable enough to be yourself.

“There are so many barriers and we have to take all the barriers away.”

Ash believes that if children and young people have support to find things that they are good at, it can give them something to focus on and be proud of instead of getting into trouble and going down the wrong path.

“In the film that I’ve made with Fixers, it starts off as an animation of me watching the TV commercial with the football freestyler who inspired me. From then you see me pick up the football and go outside to start practising.

“The message of the film is that if you see something that excites you or that you enjoy watching, go out and give it a go. Try it and then push it as far as you can.

“Last month I was out in China on a TV show going out to 50 million people breaking a Guinness World Record and I never thought that would ever happen in my life!

“I believe everyone has got a hidden talent in there, somewhere.”

For more about SBX Entertainment go to http://sbxentertainment.com/

Fixers is charity which supports young people across the UK to take action and change things for the better, addressing any issue they feel strongly about.

How each Fixer tackles their chosen issue is up to them – as long as they benefit someone else.

The award-winning Fixers project has already supported over 9,000 young people to have an authentic voice in their community.

Each Fixer is supported to create the resources they need - such as films, websites or print work - to make their chosen project a success.

Now, thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund, Fixers aims to work with a further 20,000 young people over the next three years.

For images, interviews or more information, please contact Sue Meaden in the Fixers Communications Team by email sue@fixers.org.uk or phone 01962 810970.

There are lots more stories about young people doing great things on the Fixers website, Twitter and Facebook pages:
www.fixers.org.uk
www.twitter.com/FixersUK
www.facebook.com/FixersUK

Notes to editors:

• Fixers started in England in 2008. Now with a £7.2 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund, Fixers is extending into Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. To date, over 9,000 young people across the UK have become Fixers and created 1,040 projects.
• The Public Service Broadcasting Trust is a charity that brings together mainstream broadcasters, public and voluntary sector services, and viewers.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
• Margo Horsley, Chief Executive of Fixers says: “Fixers started in 2008 as just an idea… an idea given a voice by over 9,000 young people over the past five years. They have reached thousands of people with their work, on a national stage as well as in and around where they live. They choose the full array of social and health issues facing society today and set about making their mark. Fixers are always courageous and their ideas can be challenging and life-changing, not just for themselves.”
• Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund UK Chair, says: “The Big Lottery Fund is extremely happy to be supporting Fixers to engage with more young people to change things for the better. Thousands of public-spirited young people across the UK are campaigning to make improvements in their own communities. By providing a platform to highlight their voluntary work and many achievements, Fixers demonstrates the positive contribution thousands of committed young people are making at a local level and challenges negative stereotypes.”