Today, Thursday 29th June, saw us deliver our first collaboration with Westminster City Council (WCC) and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council (RBKC), supported by Chelsea Football Club.
Together we hosted the “Black and Blue Schools Programme” pilot; an initiative borne out of a shift in government policy, with drug education now a key feature of late primary education in preparation for their journey into secondary school. And in this instance, the dangers and perils of drug abuse was told through the lens of our Founder, Paul Canoville’s story.
Our COO, Marcus, explained:
“Peter from WCC had worked with Paul before and, knowing his story, was keen to do so again in this context of drug addiction and rehabilitation.
“Whilst Paul has spoken before to many groups of children, he has never shared this aspect of his story with an audience so young.
“But this was a challenge that he navigated skilfully, answering insightful questions from the children who were aged 10 and 11 with a restraint that didn’t patronise but recognised and adapted to their young ears.
“This was a difficult pitch, as drugs and drug abuse is a very sensitive topic, but Paul met every question head on”.
Today’s event was a first run-through of this subject matter material, delivered to a pilot group of 4 schools. We plan to continue our collaboration with WCC and RBKC to deliver this programme into the next academic year, working with a further 36 schools in cohort groups of 4 at a time.
Marcus continued to describe the day:
“Prior to today’s event the children were visited by Peter and his colleagues from the Ministry Of Drama (MOD), working with the children to study Paul’s life and the events that are relevant to the core themes of the programme.
“They make these sessions as energetic and interactive as possible with costumes, role play and music; elements of which were presented today with each of the 4 schools taking a turn with a short skit and a whole group rendition of the Canoville song from the terraces; it was stirring stuff!
“When Paul is called up to deliver, he does so with a sense of theatre and fun – he is natural and engaging.
“It is important to remember that as much as it is an educational programme there is, at its heart, a real person that has been through all of this: it is Paul’s story”.
When arriving at Stamford Bridge today, Paul mentioned that he was apprehensive about discussing this aspect of his story, but he was keen to channel those nerves positively. At that time, the children had begun to file in and take their seats, so it was showtime.
Marcus continued:
“After a short introduction by Matt, Chair of the Paul Canoville Foundation, it was straight into it, with Paul providing context with a first-hand account of his life as a young boy in Southall.
“Paul spoke of the roles his ‘mummy’ and his sister June – now our Foundation Vice Chair – played to guide and shape the man he would become.
“From tales of Paul’s childhood and his parents being part of the Windrush generation, the story progressed to signing for Chelsea, then playing for Reading and the injury that ultimately took all of his dreams from him.
“It was the 1980’s and he explained about how top-level footballers did not earn the millions like they do today, and medical technology was not as advanced.
“It’s at this point that the story takes a darker turn and he talked about his time as a disc jockey and his first exposure to drugs, their impact on him and his personality, and how he then hit rock bottom.
“The children and adults in the room were hanging on his every word, from Paul’s comic impersonations of his mum and sister during his early years, through to the very serious parts where drug abuse took everything from him.
“We were then treated to the animated video made by Zoom Rockman – a wonderful piece of work by a very talented artist – depicting the elements of Paul’s story pertinent to this programme in a hugely powerful way.
“Just before this was shown, Zoom spoke to the children describing the animation process and giving a brief insight to his own story and how you should always chase your dreams.
“To meet Zoom is to be in the presence of someone whose ability, maturity and experience far outstrips his youth.
“To finish there was a Q&A session, at which point the children were invited to ask a question – and arms shot up everywhere as if they were bidding for ice cream!
“And such was the bond between them and Paul, there was no shyness whatsoever.
“The questions were incredibly thoughtful and mature for such a young audience, which visibly impressed Paul, but there were a couple of instances where he felt the need to check to ensure it was okay for him to answer, given the adult nature of the question!”
One of the senior civil servants that attended today commented that they were “… really struck by how Paul spoke about such sensitive themes and yet didn’t speak down to the children at all – incredible…”
At the end of the session there was a rush towards Paul, with the children and attending adults keen to share a word, photo or get an autograph.
Ever the gentleman, Paul accommodated this with effortless charm and warmth.
And if we had not stopped it when we did, they would all still be there chatting hours later!
What was apparent today is that Peter, alongside his WCC and RBKC colleagues, have put together a first-class body of work.
The groups came with some knowledge of Paul’s story and the wonderful sense of innocent curiosity that only children have, alongside the thirst to hear more and engage further with him.
Paul’s honesty, his active presence and willingness to help others learn from his experiences, is testament to the man – and the opportunity that his profile as a former top-level footballer affords him.
Positivity, respect and love was evident everywhere today and what we should never lose sight of is that this is a man with a story: which, in his own words, nearly killed him.
We are forever grateful it didn’t, and to spend a couple of hours with Paul is to be in the presence of someone that has worked to gain a deeper self-awareness, whilst developing resilience and the ability to feel the warmth and love of those who appreciate the real Paul Canoville – the man behind the story.
“Today was a truly humbling and moving experience” were Marcus’ closing remarks.
