An insight into BiG: Interview with Lionel Best
Q. Hi Lionel, how are you? First of all can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
A. Well first and foremost, I am very family orientated, a father of 2 boys and the youngest of three - 1 brother who shares the same birthday as me, but 2 years older than me and 1 sister, one year older than me and shares the same birth month as me and my brother. Yes, we are all born in May and 1 year apart! I was brought up in a council flat in Bermondsey, South London, at a time when it was very racist and I had to always fight for things. I had to learn how to fight the right way, including against the system where I could, but growing up in the 70s, 80s and 90s was so community focussed and the community were also my family where everyone looked after and out for each other.
I am an ex semi professional footballer playing for teams such as Crawley Town, Dulwich Hamlet, Bromley Town, Tooting and Mitcham and more, over a 12 years career. I then went into coaching and progressed as a UEFA B football coach, coaching at Academy level for Crystal Palace Academy for 4 seasons. As you can see, I have a strong background in football and even before I started BiG, I have always used football as a tool to mentor and guide young people.
I am also an ex civil servant of 23 years where I started at the very bottom in 1987 as a Clerical Assistant and worked myself up to just below senior management level as a Higher Executive Office through hard work, resilience and belief in myself. It was not an easy journey with lots of challenges to overcome, which to me were due to unfair treatment and inequality issues, but with determination and having a positive attitude, with the right advocates and support, I was able to progress through the ranks.
Q. What gave you the idea to create BiG?
A. Those who know me well, know there are two main things that I am / have always been passionate about - one is football and the other is motivating others to achieve, and even though I was unofficially mentoring young people (mainly boys) through football, I had a burning desire to do more for young people so I left my successful 23 years civil service career to explore this new career change but wasn’t sure how best to fulfill my calling. I first reflected on what I believed young people needed to achieve, and because I was not inspired to learn in the traditional educational way when I was in school, but knew I was not silly, I dreamed up a way to teach people key foundation skills through play. I designed a school’s programme aimed at supporting students to develop a more positive attitude to learning which I named SHOCK. Acronyms are commonly used in the Civil Service and I’m afraid that after 23 years, that is one of many disciplines embedded in me so reflecting on what foundations I believe young people need to overcome their own internal barriers to succeed, I came up with the name SHOCK for BiG’s first ever, and leading motivational programme, and the reason I started BiG, which stands for Self-esteem, Health, Opportunities, Confidence and Knowledge. If I was going to deliver SHOCK, I thought I need a trading name and then came up with the name BiG (Besty’s Inspirational Guidance), as when I was younger and in my playing days, I was only known as Besty, and my desire is to inspire and guide. Again, the acronym BiG is shorter and is memorable
Q. What services does BiG offer? and how do you think this will impact young people?
A. With my strong background, interests and expertise in football, BiG services were always going to include football services. As you will know, BiG is a very powerful tool to engage and inspire young people, and to bring communities together from different backgrounds, religions, postcodes etc. As mentioned, I delivered SHOCK first under the BiG banner followed shortly with our first holiday football service in the same year 2011. I then decided to include work experience schemes as part of our holiday football programme in 2013 and there you had it, the 3 pillars of BiG services was established - motivational educational programmes, football and recreational services (even though at that time it was mainly football) and employability skills, only work experience schemes initially.
We have developed many programmes under each pillar since 2011 with all fun and development activities achieving the same goal which is supporting and empowering children and young people to enhance self-esteem, develop resilience and acquire tools to achieve positive outcomes.
Specific programmes and activities under each pillar are as follows:
School Motivational educational programmes
SHOCK
The BiG Leadership programme
Football programmes
BiG Holiday football programmes
The BiG Elite football programme
BiG Weekly inclusive programmes
Afterschool football clubs
Other recreational programmes working with partners
Making music / beats workshops
Talent show workshops
Drama classes
Youth engagement programmes
TV production programmes
Employability skills
The BiG Youth Action Volunteers Scheme
Holiday football Work Experience programme
Traineeship Work Experience programme
Schools work experience programmes
Internships
Volunteering opportunities
BiG Inspirations Online Project
Online motivational programmes
Online ball manipulation workout sessions
Online Football Development Workshops
Online Performance Arts workshops
Online Entrepreneurship workshops
Online Film Production workshops
Q. In what ways has BiG changed your life?
A. BiG has changed my life significantly. When I decided to start BiG, I did not realise that it was going to be so hard to start, let alone sustain and grow. But I would not change where I am and what I do for anything.
Q. What is a big challenge you have faced in life? How did you overcome this?
Keeping the business going through belief in my dream, determination and resilience!
Q. Do you have any advice for our readers? What would you say?
Even those we are in crazy times, these are also exciting times for anyone who believes in second chances. These are times where everyone starts at the same point in terms of making things happen from where you are through self-discovery, self-belief and resilience.
Believe in yourself and follow your dreams! And let BiG support you on your road to recovery.
Thanks for your insight Lionel!
Do you have a question for Lionel? Or simply want to know a little bit more about what the BiG team does? Let us know in the comments and we’ll get back to you.