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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

‘Youth clubs helped me’: Efe Obada calls for funding for centres for young people

Efe Obada, NFL American football player, on a visit to  Roundwood Youth Centre in Harlesden, north London.
Efe Obada on a visit to Roundwood Youth Centre in Harlesden, north London. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

On Friday evening, at a youth club not far from some of north-west London’s most deprived housing estates, hoots and yelps of excitement filled the air as children pelted the NFL star Efe Obada with American footballs.

The Washington Commanders defensive lineman, who grew up in foster care in south London after being trafficked to Britain, relied on youth organisations like this one as his “safe place”.

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