My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
Yes
I am 18 years of age or above, by the application deadline.
Yes
My organisation is a registered UK entity and has a London-based address.
Yes
My organisation is a non-profit (e.g. school, university, or local authority) — not a for-profit, which can only join as a partner.
Yes
If there is a for-profit organisation as a partner in my initiative, they work on a cost-recovery basis only.
Yes
My solution is implemented at scale, or if not, I have a clear business plan, a minimum viable solution (prototype, pilot, or proof of concept), evidence of access to a lease for the space you are leveraging, and evidence of work or impact in London within your coalition.
Yes
I am aware that, if I am submitting more than one application to a Challenge run by Ashoka and Go! London, only one of them is able to progress through the stages.
Yes
Are you an employee (and their children and grandchildren) of Ashoka or any of its respective affiliates and participating advertising and promotion agencies?
No
I have read and accepted the Challenge Terms & Conditions.
Yes
First Name
Juan
Last Name
Lopez
Pronouns
He/Him
Email address
I would like to receive notifications and updates about Go London!, Ashoka, Ashoka Changemakers, and other Ashoka opportunities.
1
Are you an Ashoka Fellow?
No
Are you applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow?
No
If you are applying from an organization founded by an Ashoka Fellow, please specify the name and organisation of the fellow below.
Lead Organisation Name
Raza Sana CIC
Year that you started/ registered your organisation
2024
Initiative Title
1st Rep
My initiative is designed for and delivered in London
1
Website URL(s) or Social Media Handles
https://www.razasana.com/
Initiative Stage
Growth (You’ve moved past the very first activities; working towards the next level of expansion.)
Sectors/Themes: What topic does your project most directly relate to?
Health & Fitness
Initiative Summary: Describe your initiative in one sentence
We re-imagine underused spaces on London estates by installing street gyms and activating them through free, weekly, coach-led sessions, transforming them into safe, community movement hubs where young people build confidence, skills, and long-term ownership of healthy lifestyles.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve and who will benefit the most from your solution? How close are you to the problem and/or community impacted?
Across many London estates, outdoor gyms and public spaces exist but remain significantly underused by the young people they were intended to serve. In neighbourhoods like Northumberland Park in Tottenham, Pitfield Estate in Hackney and Bemerton Estate in Islington, inactivity rates are high, youth services are stretched, and many young people report low confidence, limited knowledge of how to train safely, and concerns about safety or social judgement in public spaces. The problem is not simply a lack of facilities. It is a lack of confidence, ownership, and supportive activation. Equipment alone does not create participation. Without guidance, structure, or positive role models, many young people feel these spaces are “not for them.” As a result, public investment sits idle while health inequalities widen. Those most affected are inactive young people aged 13–24, particularly those from low-income backgrounds, young women who feel excluded from male-dominated outdoor environments, and young adults at risk of social isolation. Many have had negative experiences with traditional sport settings or cannot afford private gyms. This issue matters deeply to me. I grew up in Tottenham and understand firsthand how limited access to safe, positive outlets can shape life trajectories. I now lead delivery in the same communities, working directly with young people weekly. Our team is embedded locally and partners with youth hubs, residents, and community organisations. We are not working at a distance; we are part of the ecosystem. Solving this problem means transforming how public spaces are experienced, from intimidating or unused infrastructure into welcoming environments that build confidence, belonging, and long-term well-being.
Your approach: How are you/ will you addressing the problem outlined above? How does your solution unlock or reimagine access to spaces for sport and physical activity? What role do landowners, local authorities, or other decision-making stakeholders play in your approach? We'd love to know about the origin of your idea, and what was your "aha" moment" that led you to take action?
Our approach addresses not just the physical space, but the social and psychological barriers that prevent young people from using it. While outdoor gyms exist on many estates, they often sit underused because young people lack confidence, knowledge, and a sense of safety or belonging. Equipment alone does not create participation. We re-imagine access by combining infrastructure with consistent, free, coach-led activation. Weekly sessions provide structured, beginner-friendly training that builds competence and confidence over time. As young people develop skills and familiarity, they begin using the space independently, shifting it from an intimidating environment into a community-owned movement hub. The idea emerged from lived experience. Having grown up on a London estate, I saw how limited safe outlets and positive role models shaped behavior. The “aha” moment came when we noticed that once a relatable coach was consistently present, participation increased dramatically and young people began returning outside session times. The barrier was not motivation, it was activation and trust. Local authorities play a critical enabling role. We work in partnership with councils, housing associations and youth hubs to secure permissions, align safeguarding standards, and embed the model within local strategies. By strengthening relationships between residents, service providers and decision-makers, we help unlock public spaces that are under-used and not fully accessible in practice. Our solution strengthens connection between people and place, infrastructure and human support, and creates long-term, sustainable access to sport and physical activity.
Collaboration with young people and the community: In what ways does your initiative engage young people and community members closest to the problem? What role do they play in building the solution you deliver?
Young people and residents are not passive participants in our work, they actively shape how the space is used and how sessions are delivered. Our model is built around ongoing listening, informal consultation, and shared ownership. Sessions are intentionally conversational. We regularly gather feedback during and after training about what feels welcoming, what feels intimidating and what would make the space more usable outside coached hours. For example, young participants told us they felt unsure how to use certain equipment independently, which led us to introduce simple, repeatable training formats and peer-led demonstrations. As confidence grew, we saw participants begin arriving early, staying after sessions, and training without coaches present. We also create progression pathways. Young people who show commitment are supported to take on informal leadership roles like helping set up sessions, welcoming newcomers, or demonstrating exercises. Longer term, we support those interested with gaining qualifications and paid roles within delivery. This builds visible, relatable role models within the estate itself. Our initiative is rooted in the local ecosystem. We partner with youth hubs, community groups, and residents to align session times with community rhythms and ensure the space feels safe and inclusive. Women-only sessions were introduced following direct feedback from young women who felt uncomfortable training in mixed outdoor environments. By placing young people at the center of decision-making and visible leadership, we strengthen their connection to the space. The result is not just increased participation, but growing confidence, ownership, and community pride.
Potential for/Evidence of Impact: How do you imagine your initiative will make a difference in unlocking spaces for and access to physical activity and sport so far? If you have already implemented it, what difference have you made so far? What is the impact your initiative has had , and or what impact do you envision having in the future?
Our initiative unlocks spaces by shifting them from being physically available to being socially accessible. Since activating our street gym model, we have delivered consistent weekly sessions reaching over 150 young people, alongside women-only and 50+ groups. Many participants were previously inactive or not engaged in structured sport. The most visible impact has been behavioural change. Young people who initially attended with low confidence now train independently outside coached hours. We have observed increased repeat attendance, peer-to-peer encouragement, and organic use of the space beyond formal sessions. This demonstrates a key outcome: the space no longer feels intimidating or exclusive. Quantitatively, participants report increased weekly activity levels, improved strength and mobility, and greater confidence in using outdoor equipment safely. Qualitatively, young people describe feeling “more comfortable training outside” and “less judged.” Women who previously avoided the space now attend regularly due to dedicated sessions shaped by their feedback. Long-term, the impact is deeper than session delivery. By embedding consistent coaching, local leadership pathways, and community partnerships, we are building a replicable activation model. With structured expansion, this approach could unlock multiple underused estate spaces across London, reaching hundreds more young people annually. Our credible path to scale lies in low infrastructure cost, strong local partnerships, and a model rooted in human activation rather than capital build, enabling sustainable, community-led access to physical activity over time.
Innovation: What is different about your initiative compared to other solutions that are already out there? How is your approach original and innovative?
What makes our initiative different is that we are redesigning how existing public spaces function socially. Many solutions focus on building infrastructure or delivering time-limited sport sessions. We focus on activating underused public spaces through consistent human presence, community leadership, and confidence-building progression. Our innovation lies in addressing the root barrier: psychological and social exclusion. Outdoor gyms often fail not because they lack equipment, but because young people lack confidence, knowledge, or a sense of belonging within them. We embed weekly, beginner-first coaching that gradually reduces dependency, enabling participants to transition from supported use to independent ownership. The goal is not attendance, it is behavioural shift. We also innovate through proximity and lived experience. Our leadership is rooted in the same estates we serve, shifting power from external providers to community-based facilitators. Participants are not just beneficiaries; they move into peer-leadership roles, shaping session culture and becoming visible role models. Structurally, we work across councils, housing associations, and youth hubs to align safeguarding, permissions and shared use of space. This collaborative unlocking of land and infrastructure challenges the norm that public spaces are either unmanaged or inaccessible. By combining infrastructure, relational trust and long-term activation, we transform public spaces from static assets into community-owned movement environments, creating a scalable model that shifts how estates experience sport and physical activity.
Viability and Scalability: How are you setting your initiative up for success, and what is your plan to ensure operational sustainability of your solution and its impact? What are your ideas for scaling your initiative to the next level?
We have designed our initiative to be low-cost, partnership-led, and operationally resilient. The core model relies on redesigning underused public spaces with modular low-cost street gyms and delivering activation programs. Delivery is structured around consistent weekly sessions, clear safeguarding processes, risk assessments, and data capture to evidence outcomes. This provides funders and partners with confidence in both impact and governance. Sustainability is built through local ecosystem partnerships. We work collaboratively with councils, housing associations, youth hubs, and community organisations to secure permissions, share space, and align with local health and youth strategies. This reduces duplication and embeds the model within existing neighbourhood systems rather than operating in isolation. Financially, we are developing a blended income approach: grant funding to subsidise free community access, small-scale commissioned work aligned to public health priorities, and partnerships with corporate or philanthropic supporters who value place-based impact. We also invest in developing local young leaders, creating paid sessional roles and long-term capacity within the community. To scale, we plan to codify our activation model into a clear, transferable framework that can be implemented across multiple estates. With additional support, we would expand into new boroughs, train community-based facilitators, and strengthen impact measurement to demonstrate replication at scale. Our ambition is to unlock a network of community-activated street gyms across London, shifting how public spaces are experienced long term.
Roles and Responsibilities: Describe how responsibilities are shared among your team or partners.
Our initiative is delivered through a collaborative, place-based partnership model, with clearly defined roles across community, education, health, and local authority stakeholders. Raza Sana team lead overall coordination, safeguarding, coaching delivery, partnership management, and impact reporting. We are responsible for activating the street gym spaces through consistent weekly sessions, engaging young people, and ensuring quality and safety standards. In Haringey, collaboration with the Regeneration and Neighbourhood Teams demonstrates how local authorities can move beyond installing facilities toward enabling long-term activation. Their role in connecting us with resident networks, estate forums, and community organisations embeds the work within borough strategy rather than standalone delivery. Project 2020 Youth Hub acts as a community anchor partner. The hub provides a safe indoor base where young people can meet before and after sessions, access mentoring, media production, and life-skills activities. This extends engagement beyond physical activity and supports wider personal development. This model shows how youth provision and public space activation can operate as one ecosystem rather than separate services. We also partner with Duke’s Secondary School, delivering targeted engagement activities for students requiring additional support. The school helps identify young people who would benefit most, ensuring early intervention and consistent referral pathways within education establishments. A key strategic partnership is with Project Future (NHS Vanguard, Mental Health Trust). They have supported the development of our impact framework and co-delivered mental health engagement initiatives, including art therapy sessions, youth focus groups, and personal development workshops. Strengthening our ability to measure outcomes beyond physical activity, embedding mental wellbeing within our model. This positions physical activity as preventative health intervention and not just recreation. We are now developing similar cross-sector partnerships at Pitfield Estate (Hackney) and Bemerton Estate (Islington), working with local stakeholders to replicate this ecosystem approach. This demonstrates a scalable model rooted in strong, place-based collaboration.
Upcoming Milestones: Please provide an overview of the milestones that are required for your initiative to come to fruition/to grow.
Timeline: September 2026 – September 2027 Model Refinement, Testing & Multi-Site Expansion Building on established partnerships and active delivery, this 12-month period focuses on strengthening, testing, and scaling our activation framework across London estates. September 2026 – Outreach Model Implementation At the start of the academic year, we will implement a refined outreach model across partner schools, youth hubs, and estate networks. We project engaging 60–80 new young people per site annually through structured referral pathways, with a target of 360–480 participants across six estates by September 2027. We will test how early academic-year engagement influences uptake, retention, and independent space usage. Autumn 2026 – Framework Consolidation We will codify our activation methodology into a transferable framework, including safeguarding standards, partnership agreements, progression pathways, and a live impact dashboard. This phase ensures delivery quality as participation grows to an estimated 500+ total touch-points per quarter across all sites. By January 2027 – Train the Trainer Pilot We will launch and test a comprehensive Train the Trainer programme to onboard 6–10 community health coaches and upskill 12–18 young local leaders into peer facilitators. This increases delivery capacity while testing whether community-rooted leadership improves retention and independent usage. January – September 2027 – Multi-Site Activation & Learning By Spring 2027, we aim to have six activated street gyms operating within a consolidated ecosystem model. We anticipate reaching 500+ young people annually, with at least 40% progressing into repeat attendance and measurable increases in independent use of public spaces outside coached sessions. The milestone is not simply expansion, it is validated learning at scale: a tested, evidence-backed activation model capable of unlocking underused public sport spaces across London in a sustainable, community-led way.
Capacity-Building Participation and Support Funding: If you were to make it as a finalist, you will be required to participate in an 8-week capacity building programme. If funding/ cost is a barrier to your participation, we may be able to offer up to 10,000 GBP of grant money available to support you. Please break down below, if it is the case, what costs you would incur and you would need covered. (Please note that there are restrictions on how the grant money may be used; please refer to the T&Cs for further details.
Participation in the 8-week Open Innovation programme will require dedicated leadership time, structured experimentation, and formalisation of our activation model. As an organisation currently delivering across multiple estates, this funding would ensure we can fully engage in the innovation process without reducing frontline provision. If awarded support funding, costs would include: 1. Strategic Leadership Backfill – £4,000 To release senior leadership capacity to participate fully in workshops, peer review, testing design, and strategic refinement. This ensures the programme drives structural innovation rather than being absorbed alongside delivery pressures. 2. Innovation Testing & Impact Infrastructure – £2,000 Development of a strengthened monitoring and learning system, including refinement of our impact dashboard, independent space-use tracking, and participant progression metrics. This will allow us to generate evidence aligned to the Challenge’s test-and-learn approach. 3. Community Co-Design & User Testing – £1,500 Facilitated youth and partner workshops across estates to stress-test our outreach and activation framework, ensuring iteration is informed by those closest to the problem. 4. Train the Trainer Model Prototyping – £1,500 Design and pilot development of a scalable leadership pathway for community coaches and young peer facilitators, enabling structured replication across boroughs. 5. Cross-Borough Collaboration & Systems Engagement – £1,000 Travel and partnership convening costs to strengthen relationships with local authorities and community partners as part of scaling the model. Total: £10,000 This support would accelerate the transition from strong local delivery to a codified, evidence-backed activation framework capable of unlocking underused sport spaces at scale across London.
