Community

One of Kick It Out’s main strengths is the unwavering and steadfast support the campaign receives from communities across the country.

Since its inception, Kick It Out has worked hard to build up relationships with a diverse range of individuals, groups and organisations wishing to use football as a way of developing strong community cohesion.

Utilising the passion there for football to convey its key messaging by going into schools, youth clubs and community initiatives and delivering presentations on equality and inclusion, the overall aim is to ensure that all communities are embraced by football and opportunities in the game are widely available to everyone.

Kick It Out is able to help community projects with activities or initiatives which support or encourage greater involvement in the game from different communities.

If you want to meet your aims and objectives through football or are looking for your club to become more involved at community level, email info@kickitout.org for more information.

Below are a selection of grassroots and community initiatives and events that Kick It Out have supported throughout the country.

  • Grassroots Events and Initiatives

  • CFL Community Day - (May 2017)

    Teams from across east London joined together on Thursday 25 May at Dagenham and Redbridge’s Chigwell Construction Stadium to participate in the Community Football League (CFL) Community Day, supported by Kick It Out.

    The event saw teams from a wide spectrum of age groups participate on a beautiful sunny afternoon in Dagenham, with six teams contesting three matches over the course of the day.

    Kick It Out’s Grassroots Activity Fund provided financial support to the event which welcomed over 500 people from the east London community, giving their backing to local football as well as promoting messages of equality and inclusion.

    The first match saw London United take on Soul Youth in the CFL Youth League Final. In a tight affair, which was well supported by the crowd, London came out on top defeating Soul 2-1. It was then the turn of the veterans to play as Canary Wharf Group took on a CFL team. Both teams shared the spoils in a six-goal encounter.

    It was then time for the main event as the CFL Final was contested between Abberfeldy and Autotunus. In another engaging encounter, it was Abberfeldy who added the CFL cup to their league success thanks to a late free-kick.

    Speaking after the final match, Anam Hoque, CFL Chairman, was thrilled with the response from the local community for the event.

    “We had over 500 people in attendance through the event, with different members of our east end community at the event. It even surpassed my expectations and I’m over the moon.

    “It was great to see the smiles on so many faces hear today at Dagenham and I want take this opportunity to say a huge thanks to Kick It Out for supporting the event.”

    Imrul Gazi, Kick It Out’s Grassroots Advisor, was delighted that the Grassroots Activity Fund could support such a prestigious event.

    “I can say that this is just one of the examples of the work Kick It Out and clubs are doing at grassroots level to break down barriers and make our game more diverse.

    “It’s important that the good work going on up and down the country gets recognised and we continue to try to make that difference. I looked around me today and saw so many happy faces from different communities; that’s what it’s about.

    “I would encourage everyone in London to visit the Kick It Out website and download our Grassroots Activity Fund application form as we want to help where we can.”

  • Vallance Disability Sports Day Festival (May 2017)

    Kick It Out joined Vallance Community Sports Association (VCSA) on Wednesday 10 May to promote disability inclusion in sport by supporting their Disability Sports Day Festival at Mile End Stadium.

    Taking place on a beautiful Spring morning, over 100 children from the local community in Tower Hamlets were given the opportunity to take part in a number of sporting activities across the athletics stadium.

    Football was the most popular sport taking place but there was also the chance for the young participants to try their hand at tennis, cricket, golf and athletics.

    The day was supported by Kick It Out through its activity at grassroots level. The organisation sat alongside a number of supporters for the event including West Ham Foundation and Tower Hamlets Sports Development.

    Speaking after the event, Imrul Gazi, Kick It Out’s Grassroots Advisor, was delighted the organisation could help support Vallance’s activity at Mile End.

    “It’s so important that Kick It Out is involved with initiatives such as the one here today. The work I am doing with Grassroots around London goes a small way in raising awareness of the work organisations like Vallance are doing in the community.

    “There is more to be done as a disabled person is still half as likely to play sport as a non-disabled person. This work will seek to challenge and change this to enable disabled people to view taking part in sport as a practical lifestyle choice.”

    Mohammed Iqbal Hussain, Founder of the football academy at Vallance VCSA, said: “We’ve done a lot of work through the academy and after a while I thought ‘we need to do something for disabled people’ – and so this event came about and has been going for the past seven years.”

    “The Disability Sports Day Festival has become an annual event supported by Tower Hamlets and we’re delighted that organisations such as Kick It Out have also joined to support this fantastic occasion.

    “Hopefully we can continue the great work which has taken place today and spread that out to other local boroughs as well.”

  • North Kilworth Football Club (April 2017)

    Two students from the Sir Frank Whittle Studio School in Lutterworth raised over £500 for Kick It Out after they hosted a #CallFullTimeToHate tournament on Saturday 22 April.

    Thomas Coupland and George Finn, both students at Sir Frank Whittle, contacted Hayley Bennett, Education Officer at Kick It Out, to find out how they could support the organisation and promote messages of equality and inclusion in their local area.

    The tournament saw seven Under-13s teams take part in a thrilling competition at North Kilworth Football Club, with over 150 people in attendance during the day. The players received bespoke designed Kick It Out medals for participating with a trophy awarded to the best player of the tournament.

    The final amount raised during the tournament was a staggering £526.32.

    Both Thomas and George will visit the Kick It Out office to hand-deliver the collected funds.

    Following the event, Thomas spoke to Kick It Out on why he and George decided to support Kick It Out and #CallFullTimeOnHate.

    “Because Leicester is such a multicultural area, we decided to contact Kick It Out to see if they would be interested in supporting our idea for an event,” he began.

    “We then spoke to Hayley and she was kind enough to offer us some resources for the tournament including a trophy and medals.

    “The event went really well. We had to arrive at 7.30 in the morning and get everything prepared for the day, which involved sorting the space for an ice cream van and catering. Everyone enjoyed the day and it was great to raise so much money.”

  • Bristol Football Festival (April 2016)

    Kick It Out, alongside a number of community partners in the Bristol region, came together in the city last Friday (8 April) for a football festival event to finish the Easter school holidays on a high.

    The organisation worked alongside Bristol City’s Community Trust, Gloucestershire FA and Bristol City Council’s Sport4life to stage the event at City Academy Sports Centre.

    The morning saw eight to 11-year-olds take part in a number of activities, including skills sessions, shooting activities, art workshops with graffiti artist Nick Halahan and Kick It Out education workshops.

    Football freestyler Frankie Vu was present throughout the day showcasing some wonderful tricks, while the afternoon session saw 12 to 18-year-olds engage in a number of football-related activities.

    Troy Townsend, Education and Development Manager at Kick It Out, said: “It was great to work with partners who have an in-depth knowledge of the local area.

    “The involvement of all the partners was a big benefit from our point of view and to see everything come together with lots of young people enjoying themselves, and learning some important messages about equality and anti-discrimination work, was a big positive.”

    Read a full report of the event here.

  • Sunderland Creating Goals (February 2016)

    Kick It Out helped develop relationships between the football club and the local community in Sunderland on Tuesday 16 February through ‘Sunderland Creating Goals’.

    The event, run in partnership through the organisation, Fans For Diversity, Young Asian Voices (YAV) and the Foundation of Light (FoL) saw over 90 local children take part in a number of activities which encouraged teamwork and understanding between different backgrounds of the community.

    sunderland-yav-creating-goals-2

    Taking place at Goals Soccer Centre in the city and at the Stadium of Light, home of Premier League Sunderland AFC, the event saw separate boys and girls groups take part in football exercises, education sessions and a stadium tour.

    Speaking following the conclusion of the event, Kamareswaradas Ramanathas, Project Manager at YAV, said: “It has been a great day and we are thankful to all the organisations involved.

    sunderland-yav-creating-goals-3

    “We work with a number of communities in Sunderland to provide opportunities and today was no different. To see young people from a number of backgrounds participating in a football tournament and other activities has been fantastic and we hope to continue this work along with Kick It Out and the Foundation of Light.”

    Read a full report of the event here.

  • Shapla Football Club (February 2015)

    Kick It Out, in conjunction with West Riding County Football Association and Bradford City FC, held a special launch event for Shapla Football Club at the BEAP Community Centre in Bradford on Thursday 19 February.

    The event acts as part of Kick It Out’s ongoing work to encourage Asian participation in grassroots and community football. The day consisted of football and education related activities to promote inclusion in Bradford, and was supported by the ‘Fans for Diversity’ campaign, jointly run by Kick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF).

    Representatives from Kick It Out, the FSF, West Riding CFA and Bradford City were involved in delivering the event which saw over 100 children take part in three activity sessions. These included a football training session inside the community centre where the children played in highly competitive matches in a friendly environment.

    Read a full report of the launch here and find out more about the work Kick It Out does with Shapla FC through the Fans For Diversity scheme here.

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"We have a responsibility as players to give something back and I’m really thankful to be part of this organisation because we can do a lot of good."
Jack Butland, 'Next 20' Ambassador
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Clive Tyldesley, football commentator
“It was Kick It Out that convinced the people in football that change was possible.”
Greg Dyke, former FA chairman
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Yaya Toure, Manchester City midfielder
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Thomas Hitzlsperger, former Aston Villa midfielder
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Sadio Mané, Liverpool winger
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Ffion Eade, Hampshire FA referee
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Kelly Smith, England Women's record goalscorer
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Rachel Yankey, former Arsenal Ladies forward
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Rimla Akhtar, Kick It Out trustee and Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation
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Joe Jacobson, Wycombe Wanderers midfielder
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Bruce Buck, Chelsea Football Club Chairman