An ex-police officer turned youth leader in Nottingham has opened up about what led him to do the work he does. Ben Rosser is the CEO of the Pythian Club, a youth group that supports hundreds of children in Nottingham.
Born in London on January, 1 1980 to a single mother, Ben joked and said that “he’s always been in the spotlight” as he was in the newspaper for being the first baby born at the Chase Farm Hospital 42 years ago. Ben grew up on the top floor of the Tooting Flats throughout his childhood as his mum trained to be a social worker.
Now, when Ben has free time, he likes to walk his rescue dog Finn, spend time with his children, play football, watch movies and enjoy his own company.
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The dad of three daughters and a step-son said: “I was left to my own devices a lot of the time, especially as I got older so I do recall going to different people’s houses and getting picked up by different people because obviously, my mum was working full time and trying to establish herself as a social worker.”
Ben had, at that point, started to get into minor situations from hanging around with the wrong people. “I was never a gang guy, I’m not going to say I was, we got into some minor issues, mischief and misbehaviour.”
Up until the age of 13, Ben lived in London and went on holiday in Zimbabwe with his mother where she had met someone, who later turned out to be Ben’s stepfather, Teddy. Teddy was living in Zimbabwe because he had been exiled from South Africa because of apartheid.
After the holiday, Teddy came back to the UK with Ben and his mother, they had moved to Sheffield. Later, they got married.
Ben spoke about his new family dynamic and said: “I wasn’t all for them getting married at first because I wanted my mum to myself but it ended up being one of the best things ever. I was getting into more trouble in Sheffield now with the police bringing me home or my mum having to come to get me from the police station.”
Ben’s mum would always tell him ‘if you don’t behave yourself, we’re going to move to Africa.’ When his mum said this, Ben continued and said: “You would never really believe that would you?”
To Ben’s surprise, one day, his whole life changed. He said: “I literally came home one day and the whole house was in boxes and the next day, we went to South Africa, he flew out to Africa and it was a massive change for me. I didn't even have time to tell my friends.”
Ben, who had gone to a school where he experienced racism, later went on to go to a private school. Westfields Boys High School.
Ben said: “I went to a private school, Westfield Boys High School and I was actually the first person of colour to go there. I quickly learned how I should be behaving if you haven’t got those in South Africa you quickly learn.”
“It humbled me for a time as well living in Africa. You think you have it bad in the UK but when you see people living in shanty towns, wooden houses with no clean water and people with no money, no nothing, you realise how lucky you are in the UK.”
Ben, who passed all of his exams at school, ended up being befriended by boys who had actually bullied him previously. After seeing him being gifted in football, they had looked at Ben in a different light and to this day, they all still keep in contact with one another.
Coming back to the UK at the age of 17 in 2002, Ben wanted to become a professional footballer but even though gifted in the sport, he was unsuccessful. Ben said: “In Sheffield, I had written to every single team and I got about four or five responses asking me to do trials but I didn’t make it for whatever reason.
“I knew though that I was good enough.”
After this unsuccessful career move, Ben decided to become a police officer. From the year 2003 to the year 2013, Ben was a serving police officer for Nottinghamshire Police.
He said: “There were massive cuts around 15 years ago in policing, education and other services. I was covering a relatively small area so you can imagine how much visibility and proactive we could be but that got cut down to around 6,7 officers - and the area got bigger.
“You were just going to jobs, jobs, jobs,jobs. There was no patrol, that was a big thing to lose and that caused me a problem before this, I loved working - even on my days off I’d find a reason to come back to the station.”
In careers, Ben said one of the most memorable calls he got sent to was in Beeston, saving the life of a man who had passed out. He took over from a paramedic to do CPR and the passed out individual lived.
After 10 years, Ben then decided to leave Nottinghamshire Police and that’s when the Pythian Club was formed.
Ben said: “I set the Pythian Club up because I wanted to engage young people before they had been arrested or before they had been stabbed, kicked out. I wanted to intercept them before they got into those situations. I’m extremely proud of how far the Pythian Club has come, I have a great team.
“6 years later, we are one of the leading organisations around. Last month [April 2022] we helped 6 young people get into employment and we worked closely with the police. I will continue what I’m doing with my team to help people around Nottingham and to set an exam for my children as I want them to grow up in a better world.”
Alex Norris, MP for Nottingham North has said: "We're so lucky to have the Pythian Club in our community. They provide activity, guidance and support for so many young people, helping them reach their potential and address any challenges in their lives. It works because they know the community and because their team is skilled at connecting with people. They are making a huge difference."
