John Miller took over as TackleAfrica’s Chair of Trustees in April 2010, with the exciting task of driving forward our programmes and infrastructure.   He outlines his background, some current challenges and his vision for the next 18 months.

Tell us a little about yourself and why you applied to be TackleAfrica’s chair of Trustees

My working life has included education, self employment and corporate life, where for 8 years I was a senior executive of a UK plc operating in 16 countries of Europe. I am currently running my own business focused on organisation change and development. The common feature of this rather unusual career – at least, I am told it is so – has been a commitment to working alongside people, helping them to make their organisations as effective as they can be in meeting goals and aspirations. 

TackleAfrica’s link between football and health education is particularly inspirational and the approach of TackleAfrica has the opportunity to achieve tangible and positive goals, changing lives for the better. I consider it a privilege to be part of this work.

What challenges do you think TA faces in the future?

There are several challenges that we face; 

(i)      To build on-going and sustainable programmes of activity in the six countries in which we currently operate, this means working ever closer with our partner NGOs and Community Based Organisations to create and develop local infrastructure. 

(ii)     To ensure that there is a small but highly effective team of people in the UK confidently able to resource the activity, build on the success of the programmes already begun and create and deliver new programmes as required

(iii)   To generate a sustainable and significant income stream that can support the developing work of TackleAfrica

What’s your ambition for the charity going forward and where would you like to see it in five/ten years?

I think that the Charity is ready for some real growth in its activity.  In my view, all those involved in TackleAfrica can rightly feel proud of the achievements that have been made and to which they have contributed. This is especially in the quality of the World Class Manuals that have been created; the dedication and personal time commitment of the UK and African Football Coaches; the enthusiasm of those involved in the Football Marathon and, not least, the passion and energy of the members of the Trustee Board. 

The legitimate pride in what has achieved so far has to be tempered by the realisation that there is much still to be done. The next steps in our development will lead to TackleAfrica reaching out to many more young people through a significantly higher number of African coaches.  These coaches will be trained, developed and supported locally and their activity will be accredited, by academic or other relevant qualifying organisations. The work that TackleAfrica does will be increasingly recognised within the countries in which we operate and the charity will be seen as a key leader in sport-related HIV education across Africa.  

Will we be operating in more countries? Will we have been able to establish ourselves as an authority to which others refer? Will we have increased feedback that shows the behavioural change effects of our programmes? I expect that the answer to these questions is a qualified ‘yes’, but I think that this will be a matter that can be picked up in the coming months and years.

One Game Saves Lives

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