Bobby Kasanaga’s Journey: Introduction
Here at Inside Success, we are big on celebrating members of the community who continue to inspire and give back to the youth. Meet the inspiration Bobby Kasanaga, founder of Hackney Wick football club. After being in prison for 8 years, and seeing the potential of fellow young prisoners going to waste, he decided to be a pillar of change. He used that humbling experience to turn his life around, and create a platform that would give former prisoners like himself, another chance at life, to turn away from their former life of crimes and do something resourceful. Explore the inspiring and remarkable tale of Bobby Kasanaga’s Journey.
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Bobby Kasanga. I’m the founder of Hackney Wick football club and Grassroots for Good.
How did you get into this?
I started Hackney football club back in 2015 after spending eight years in prison. While I was inside I saw so many talented young footballers who didn’t have the platform they needed to keep themselves off the streets out of trouble. That’s the reason why I started it.
What gave you the motivation to do such a thing?
The motivation for starting Hackney football club was not just to help and to inspire young people, but I also did it for myself. What I mean by this is that I knew with having a criminal record it would be hard for me to just go and get a regular job. Therefore I wanted to make sure that I could invest in myself whilst also trying to support the young people as much as I can. Furthermore, within that I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. from when i was a young kid all the way through to my adult life, I’ve always had a love for entrepreneurship. Thus I took this opportunity as a chance to step into my calling.
Bobby Kasanaga’s Journey: What trials and tribulations did you have starting up your business?
I mean to start off any business you need to have money and you need to have sorted funds. When we started we had a lack of funding, and pretty much no money. Therefore, when we started the football club we would go out there and fundraiser. We would literally go into the streets with buckets and so on, asking the general public for their help and support. And this ended up being a huge success, that helped us really generate money and interest and income from people. You know, what would happen is that someone will see us walk past it might give us £1, another person go fast give us £2. Thus, just by doing that before you know it we had raised enough money to go and buy ourselves kits, and enough to go and buy yourself equipment footballs.
Additionally by going out into the streets and getting the name and our brand out there, we were able to branch into networking and collaborations. When people would walk past they might say oh take my card i’m from this company. That consequently helped us to grow and expand, as well as branch out to different organizations who would help the club progress.
What inspires you now?
My biggest inspiration is my children. I have two beautiful girls who are my whole world. And as any parent, I want them to have the best of life that they can. Now that is not to say that I had a difficult childhood myself. As a matter of fact I had a decent childhood but I just wanted to make sure I can provide the best I can for them. Additionally, whilst I’’m doing that help is to support and inspire the future generations.
Bobby Kasanaga’s Journey: What advice would you give to young people trying to get into the industry?
Advice that I would give to young people, who are trying to get into the industry that i’m working in is that first of all have a passion for it. But this is a piece of advice for anything you want to do in this life. It’s not just my industry but any industry that you want to get in. First and foremost have a passion for it, and be willing to work hard. But most importantly patience and consistency. Those two things, patience and consistency, will get you very far in life.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
The same piece of advice I’ll give my younger self, and that is to be patient and consistent. Your time will come, so just be consistent. Don’t just want things to happen overnight. There’s a certain level of joy you will experience, and discipline you will learn in the process.
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