Brentford B player David Titov and Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Leisure, joined participants from a Premier League Kicks session at Northolt High School to celebrate the commitment from the Premier League to fund the community programme for another three years. This investment will enable more than 175,000 young people to access Premier League Kicks sessions across England and Wales by 2022.

Premier League Kicks gives young people access to free football sessions, sports sessions and workshops, providing them with opportunities, support and pathways to achieve their full potential. It sees club community staff working closely with young people and authorities in their local area, including the police to create stronger, safer and more inclusive communities. Aimed at eight-to-18-year-olds, Kicks engages young people in positive activities through their passion for football, whilst also addressing topics covering everything from equality and inclusion to youth violence and knife crime.

Premier League support will see the programme grow so that 90 Premier League, EFL and National League clubs are able to deliver sport and education sessions in hundreds of local communities where projects are needed most. With a focus on integration, equality and inclusion, thousands more girls will be engaged, and clubs will deliver ever more inclusive sessions. Along with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Fulham, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust was one of the first community organisations to run the pioneering project back in 2006.

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz saw how young people in Northolt have been positively impacted by the programme and joined in with the Trust’s weekly football session. Speaking at the event, he said: “I was delighted to attend the Premier League Kicks programme at Northolt; it is great to see a 100 young people involved every week – developing football, teamwork and coaching skills.”

Luke Skelhorn, Operations Director of Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, said: “Being one of the first football clubs to take part in the Kicks pilot in 2006, we were delighted to celebrate the success of the Premier League’s Kick programme and relaunch it at our Northolt session, which sees 100 young people attend on a weekly basis. Working at a grassroots level, we are creating safe spaces for young people to enjoy sport in a positive and collaborative environment.”

Premier League Executive Director Bill Bush said: “The Premier League Kicks programme has been running successfully through our clubs and many across the EFL for thirteen years. To show our commitment to young people and communities, we are investing further to ensure its continuation for another three years, until 2022.

“Kicks is our flagship community programme and we are pleased that with the support of clubs and partners across the country, not least the police, we can continue to positively impact young people, providing them with opportunities and pathways that they may not have been able to access. Twenty per cent of current Premier League Kicks staff are former participants or volunteers, which goes to show how a long-term commitment can provide support and pathways for young people to better themselves, in turn allowing them to be a positive influence to others growing up in their community.”

More information on the national PL Kicks programme and its objectives can be found at: https://www.premierleague.com/communities/programmes/community-programmes/pl-kicks.