Ahead of the 9th European Deaf Football Championship in June, Ben Lampert - a Brentford FC Community Sports Trust coach - has been selected to join England’s Deaf coaching squad as Assistant Coach. The 33-year-old, who has been credited with raising awareness of deaf football across west London, will coach the players in the run up to the tournament in Crete 2019. And Ben has first-hand experience of playing football at a national level: he was part of Great Britain’s Deaf football team between 2003 and 2017.

Yet Ben hasn’t just been lauded for his footballing achievements, he joined Brentford FC Community Sports Trust back in 2009 and now runs the Trust’s Deaf Sports Plus programme, which encourages deaf children and adults to get involved with sport and tackle the existing obstacles they face playing sport.

Peter Shears, who oversees the Trust’s disability projects, spoke of Ben’s invaluable contribution to the award-winning football charity. He said: “When we first started our deaf coaching programme we only had three or four deaf children involved. Now, we engage with more than 150 deaf children and adults each year. This is testament to Ben’s influence amongst the deaf community and how he harnesses the power of sport to inspire deaf children and adults.”

Along with his coaching activities, Ben also runs deaf awareness workshops for hearing people in local schools and community groups. Most notably, he teamed up with Brentford captain Romaine Sawyers last year to run a unique sign language with the anti-racism charity Kick It Out to pupils at a school in Twickenham.

Speaking about his new role at the FA, Ben said: “I am delighted to be given the role of Assistant Coach for the England Deaf Football team as we prepare for the European Championship in Crete this year. It is a new challenge and big step for me – transitioning from footballer to coach. I am looking forward to sharing my experience and knowledge with the management and players.”

Due to funding restrictions, Ben will need to fundraise for his role in the deaf coaching team. You can donate to his role here. For more information about our disability projects, please visit brentfordfccst.com.