Over 10,000 school kids helped by BHAFC Foundation last year
In the last school year, the BHAFC Foundation reached more than 10,000 young people in schools across Sussex.
Part of our mission as a charity is to help young people learn new skills, have new experiences, and ultimately grow as people.
By sending our coaches and tutors into schools, we can use the power of the Albion badge to get kids genuinely engaged in learning and looking forward to going to school.
Between September 2022 and July 2023, we worked in more than 150 different schools in East Sussex, West Sussex, and Brighton and Hove.
In those 150 schools we managed to reach more than 10,000 kids last year, and we are always looking for ways to help even more young people.
Our work in schools is very wide-reaching. From football-themed numeracy and literacy lessons to active PE sessions, from using our high-tech Soccer STEM robots to learning how to prepare healthy meals – we have so many different ways to support local schools.
And, of course, some lucky pupils have made memories they’ll never forget when stars from Albion’s first teams come to visit!
Premier League Primary Stars
Premier League Primary Stars is the single biggest way we reach young people, with nearly 4,000 primary school children engaging in our sessions last year.
As a charity we work very closely with the Premier League, especially through our work in schools, to help use the power of football to help kids be active and develop important life skills.
Primary Stars uses football to help teach lessons in English, Maths, PSHE, and PE.
- 90% of teachers feel that the programme has increased their pupils’ demonstration of at least one key life value, with resilience, determination and self-esteem coming out top.
- Almost 90% of teachers who used the PE resources agree that the programme has increased their pupils’ enjoyment of sport and physical activity.
- 8 in 10 teachers said that the programme has had a positive impact on their school community.
Premier League Inspires
While Primary Stars is for younger students, Premier League Inspires is a programme that helps secondary school pupils on the way to reaching their full potential.
Through various lessons, workshops, challenges, and enterprise days, pupils are invited to learn new ideas and be inspired as they grow into young adults.
A lot of focus is put onto entering the world of work and higher education, and Inspires helps students on their way to deciding how they want to shape their future.
PE lessons
Around 1,800 children took part in a BHAFC Foundation PE lesson last year.
We have a large number of FA and UEFA-qualified coaches at the Foundation, as well as a number of tutors with experience working in schools. Their expertise allows us to support schools across Sussex with both regular PE lessons and PE PPA support.
For any youngster who loves football, seeing their PE teacher coming into school wearing Albion kit is a surefire way to get them excited and ready to learn.
Gully’s Health Squad
Last year we celebrated the launch of Gully’s Health Squad – a new programme promoting healthy living to primary school children.
Our health coaches will go into schools for 10 weeks, giving pupils a thorough crash-course on how to eat and live healthily. Of course, they have some help from fan-favourite Gully as well.
Through fun activities, informative assemblies, and hands-on food preparation, pupils get a great understanding of basic healthy eating and nutrition.
After-school clubs
Last year, more than 2,000 youngsters came to one of our after-school clubs.
Our after-school clubs are a great way for kids to relax and have fun after school, all while getting active and learning skills from qualified coaches.
For schools who don’t have the provision to run their own after-school clubs – and parents who need help with childcare – our after-school clubs are a great help.
Albion Cup
The Albion Cup is a series of tournaments that we run every single year for Sussex schools.
It brings schools from across the county together for a fun football tournament, where every child goes home with a medal.
We run the Albion Cup for hundreds of pupils every year, including at SEN and SEND schools.
Soccer STEM
In 2022 we launched the Soccer STEM programme for school children across Sussex.
Using small robot balls on a football pitch pupils learn how to code, think about movement, angles, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication.