How Babbasa is creating lasting change for underrepresented young people in Bristol

Every so often you meet someone who inspires you.

Poku Osei is one of those people whose organisation-Babbasa-is now making an incredible difference to the lives of many young people in Bristol.

Born in Ghana, Poku, 40 is a non-executive director of Business West, who came to Bristol 14 years ago and went to UWE to study business management.

He worked in property before moving to Easton in Bristol where he started working with young people.

“I saw the level of despondency among young people. That’s where the name of my organisation came from. Babbasa was the recognition that I wouldn’t be able to do it all by myself because at the time I didn’t really know anyone.

“So, I knew I needed other people, and indeed, I needed to be connected with other institutions and agencies for it to work.

“And that’s what Babbasa means, you know, a support bridge-acting as a support bridge for others in need.”

Poku’s community breakthrough came when he met George Ferguson  before he  became Mayor of Bristol. When he did, George gave him £8 000 to help young people in deprived areas like Easton.

“Politics has never influenced what we do and it shouldn’t”, he tells me, ”Babbasa is about real human beings and what we can do for everyday people.

“So, I am just glad that well meaning politicians like George and Marvin Rees recognise and support what we do.

“Come 2013,bwe realised we had a model and I asked  UWE to help do a piece of research to check the evidence-base. From there I incorporated the organisation. 

“Fast forward to the present, I’m really proud that we stuck to our original mission which is supporting young people from low income households with their professional ambitions.

“It has been incredibly difficult because what we do is not common. For example, we are not a youth centre ad we are also not the Department of Work and Pensions, we are somewhere in the middle.”

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Is there a way Poku can see his Babbasa model working in other cities apart from Bristol?

“Absolutely”, he says. ”If there was a legacy for the UK and the world, it is possibly that-sharing our blueprint with other cities and countries to help close the inequality gap.

“Babbasa is now a tried and tested model that people know delivers for young people from  low income households. In particular, when it comes to transforming the life chances of ethnic minorities at risk.

“And that USP, I think, is important because money has been poured into different cities and it hasn’t worked. So, it’s being able to have a model that is tested, that works, and that is replicable, is something worth sharing.”

I talked about Poku and his team being inspirational. To me, that was well in evidence when they launched their OurCity2030 event at the University of Bristol.

Their vision is simple for this project with the Babbasa partners-to close the inequality gap in Bristol -one young person, one community at a time.

Babbasa wants to transform the lives of 2,030 young people by 2030.

With an entrepreneurial visionary like Poku Osei at the helm that vision will be developed into reality.