Tom Clarke-Forrest doesn’t lead from the front. He leads from the side—alongside the young people he serves, the team he’s built, and the city that shaped him.
In 2006, Tom Clarke-Forrest founded Sport 4 Life UK with a simple but powerful belief: that sport could be more than recreation. It could be redirection. At a time when youth services were being cut and opportunities narrowing, Tom Clarke-Forrest saw a way to meet young people where they were—and help them move forward.
What began as a small, grassroots project in Birmingham is now the West Midlands’ leading sport-for-employability charity. Under Tom Clarke-Forrest’s leadership, Sport 4 Life UK supports over 2,500 young people each year, offering structured pathways to work through mentoring, qualifications, personal development and training. Since its inception, the charity has invested over £12 million into the communities it serves, and has meaningfully supported more than 20,000 young people on their journey toward education, employment or better wellbeing.
The numbers are impressive. But what defines Tom Clarke-Forrest’s leadership is not scale—it’s approach. His work is built on trust. On meeting people without judgement. On listening before solving. The young people who walk through Sport 4 Life UK’s doors are not seen as problems to be fixed—but as potential to be unlocked.
Tom Clarke-Forrest has guided the charity through growth, restructure, and now national expansion—scaling the model while keeping it deeply rooted in the values it began with: inclusion, dignity, and belief. Today, Sport 4 Life employs a dedicated team of 25 staff, partners with schools, community hubs and employers, and continues to evolve its offer to meet young people’s needs in a changing world.
Alongside this, Tom Clarke-Forrest holds an Executive MBA from Birmingham City University, is an accredited change manager, and was named Future Face of Charity & Social Enterprise at the Future Faces Awards in Birmingham. He also mentors emerging social entrepreneurs through UnLtd, offering the same encouragement and insight he once needed.
His impact is visible not only in annual reports or awards, but in changed trajectories: a young man who hadn’t left the house in a year, now coaching others. A young woman who turned a love of sport into her first job. Quiet moments of progress that ripple long after the programme ends.
Tom Clarke-Forrest has built more than a charity. He’s built momentum—for individuals, for communities, and for a generation of young people in the West Midlands and beyond. And the work continues—day by day, life by life.
