Southgate praised after meeting 300 young people

A youth mentor has praised Gareth Southgate for meeting 300 young people while shooting a new documentary.

During the filming of the BBC documentary Changing The Game For Young Men, the former England manager met Dan Gaze, a former youth offender who now provides support services to young people in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

The 42-year-old said: "He met over 300 young people I put in front of him, which was great... I got him to meet 150 young people in the park after school.

"It was absolutely awesome, I loved every minute of it, he was an absolute pleasure- he is really a child-focused person who really cares and loves it, it was an honour to be part of it."

Six years ago, he launched the Dan Gaze Support Service to provide the "real" mentorship he felt was missing in traditional education.

Gaze said: "I grew up in quite a traumatised upbringing, so I was expelled from junior school, expelled from secondary school.

"I grew up with no father, had a great nan and granddad and mum who tried their best but couldn't meet all my needs. I ended up going to prison when I was 18."

Once he was out of prison, he wanted to change other young lives and worked as a volunteer and teacher before starting his own business.

When Cardiff Productions first emailed him about the documentary, Gaze nearly ignored it, thinking it was "junk, sort of spam".

But once he knew it was a real offer and agreed to do it 21 hours alongside the former England manager, an experience he now describes as "awesome" and "surreal".

He was full of praise for Southgate, who during one day of filming spoke to 150 young people, invited there by Gaze.

Among them was a 12-year-old football fan who filmed a viral interview with the sporting legend.

After filming with some of the attendees, he spent the rest of the day talking to people, taking selfies and signing autographs.

The youth worker recalled: "I said to him, 'these kids are all going to want to meet you.' He said, 'Dan, no problem at all, I'll meet them all'.

"The one thing I say to everyone is it takes a village to raise a child, it's not just down to parents... and [Southgate] was part of that village in my eyes."

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