YMCA's Michael joins celebrity sports launch
 Football coach and YMCA Norfolk part-time worker Michael Douglas has joined with celebrities such as Delia Smith, Jake Humphrey, Simon Thomas and Iwan Roberts to help relaunch a Norwich City FC charity which promotes sport and its benefits.
Football in the Community was relaunched as the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation at a Carrow Road event on January 18, when Michael spoke passionately about his personal experiences in front of an audience of 150 including new charity ambassadors Delia Smith, BBC personality Jake Humphrey, former Norwich City captain Craig Fleming, new trustees and the assembled press.
Michael is one of the charity’s big success stories and through its work, and the support of YMCA Norfolk, he has gone from depression, heavy drinking and homelessness to becoming a part-time football coach and paid worker at the YMCA.
Michael moved to Norwich in 2002 from Cumbria to start a new relationship but sunk into depression and started drinking heavily when the relationship broke down and he was no longer able to see his daughter. He stopped paying bills and suddenly found himself homeless and living in the YMCA on St Giles Street in Norwich.
“I am a proud man but my pride was on the floor,” he said.
The YMCA introduced him to a Norwich City and Blue Cat initiative, Street Life Soccer. “My first impression was that I wasn’t fit. I was very apprehensive and wasn’t too sure what I would get out of it. The first session interested me a bit, because it involved football and NCFC coaches and it was good to play football again.
 “The classroom sessions taught me key skills that really improved my confidence and self-esteem. The more sessions I did, the more I wanted to come and get further involved and I attended the sessions three or four times a week.”
He was eventually put forward by the foundation to do a mentoring course and an FA level one certificate in coaching football.
“Street Life Soccer made me feel so much stronger mentally, emotionally and physically and the sessions took away the negative thoughts that I had.
“I found myself being a key character and sometimes the leader in the groups, taking additional sessions with other lads that were regular drinkers and many who were drug takers,” he said. “Not only did I see a massive change in myself, I saw a massive change in some new friends.”
He now has his own flat and part-time jobs with the YMCA and Community Sports Foundation in which he teaches football and other sports to youngsters in schools and social inclusion projects on Norwich estates.
“My passion for sports and its positive impact on life has been important as has the belief and support I have received on my journey from YMCA Norfolk and all the staff at CSF.
“The last four years has been a personal journey of self-discovery after finding myself homeless and in a very dark place mentally,” said Michael.
“If you had told me on the day I came to St Giles YMCA and asked for help, that I would be working as a coach for CFS and also for YMCA then I would just have laughed and thought you were quite insane. I am really grateful for the guidance of YMCA people such as John Drake, Alexis Lloyd, Joe Munns and Keith Hoddy.”
In the last two years, Michael has also completed his FA level two certificate in coaching football and won the Eastern Region Most Outstanding Learner Award.
The rebranded Norwich City Community Sports Foundation, formerly known as Football in the Community, unveiled a new website and named the eight ambassadors and six new board members at the relaunch event at Carrow Road. Ambassadors also include former Norwich City players Iwan Roberts and Dean Ashton and Paralympic shot putter Danny Nobbs.
Fellow ambassador, Norwich City director Delia Smith, said: “I’ve watched Football In the Community growing over the years that I’ve been here. It’s something that we are really very very proud of. I think the ethos of this club is community. We are in the heart of Norfolk, we are in the heart of the community and that’s what football is actually really about.
“It’s a wonderful sport, it’s a beautiful game and it binds people together in the community, especially young people. “I’ve always thought that if there was more football and if football was supported more at the lower level then there would be less crime.”
The charity, already helps around 50,000 of the most disadvantaged, disabled and talented people across Norfolk through sport. It is hoping to attract new sponsors and funds as well as promote the important work they do.
It works with individuals and groups who may have lost their way, are new to the area or have fallen on hard times, which often includes people who are homeless, vulnerably housed, asylum seekers, refugees or ethnic minority groups.
Read more about the launch and see pictures of it at EDP24Pictured top, Michael Douglas and, above, Michael receives his Eastern Region Most Outstanding Learner Award from the Princess Royal. | 