Funding cuts have put the future of the groundbreaking U-Mix youth and community centre in doubt as talks between Sheffield Council and the charity Football Unites Racism Divides reach a critical stage. The £2.5m centre was opened in 2013, in Lowfield, under the management of FURD, and with grants from the Football Foundation and the government’s My Place initiative through the Big Lottery Fund. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to FURD co-founder and charity trustee Howard Holmes.
Kyle Walker’s journey from Sheffield council estate to top flight football is recalled by Simon Hyacinth, Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD) community football coach. Hyacinth runs FURD community football coaching at the U Mix centre where a young Kyle Walker first showed the glimpses of his incredible football talent. Walker, a former Sheffield United academy star, has just become the most expensive defender in the world with his move to Manchester City for over £50 million. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!
In the early hours of Christmas Day 1914 the German soldiers began to sing Silent Night and lit candles around their trenches. Later on they walked out in to no mans’ land shouting Merry Christmas to the allied soldiers. So began the Christmas Day Truce. German and Allied soldiers exchanged gifts and talked. They took the opportunity to bury their dead. But one of the best know events of the day was the game of football. 100 years on Sheffield Live! Spoke to local organisation Football Unites Racism Divides to talk about football as a uniting force.