The end of the 2023/24 season is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the achievements of Arsenal in the Community. Throughout the season, the club’s Community department has continued to demonstrate its unwavering commitment to making a positive impact in the local area and beyond…
Social Inclusion
Through our Social Inclusion programmes, we aim to support participants with personal development opportunities and increase access to memorable experiences.
•This year, we have engaged more than 1,500 young people on our PL Kicks and Positive Futures programmes. These are weekly, free football sessions that take place on local estates and parks and which provide a safe space for young people outside of school and college hours. We also have accessible programmes for young people with additional support needs and girls only activities.
•We delivered the Twinning project in Pentonville prison where we worked with 15 adults to support their communication and leadership skills.
•More than 400 young people took part in educational workshops with a focus on a wide range of topics such as anti-racism, attitudes to women and emergency first aid.
•We celebrated ten years of our partnership with North London United with Emmanuel from the programme interviewing Mikel Arteta.
Sport, Health and Wellbeing
Football Plus (supported by the Premier League and PFA)
•More than 300 children have attended sessions, represented Arsenal in the Community in local leagues and engaged in several educational workshops linked the programme values: Be Respectful, Play Fair, Be a Great Team-mate, Try your Best, Never Give up, Have Fun!
•We launched an innovative Under-9 Girls League at The Arsenal Hub where educational workshops are blended with matchday activities in a playful first experience of competitive football.
Premier League Primary Stars
•We delivered a range of competitions to local schools including the Islington Schools Football League, which engages more than 500 children from 26 schools each week.
•Arsenal in the Community delivered educational workshops to schools around a number of themes that are of interest to children (Anti-Bullying, Black History Month, Healthy Living, Mental Health, Irish History, LGBT+ History Month, Gender Equality, Earth Day).
•We collaborated with 20 local primary schools to support more than 50 teachers with their delivery of high-quality PE through a “skill swap” model.
Health
(supported by the Premier League and PFA)
•We have supported 150 men to reach a healthy weight through our Shape Up Programme. Participants on the programme burned over four million calories in sessions this season!
•We expanded our Walking Football sessions to offer weekly sessions to more than 200 participants with specific sessions and support groups for participants with Parkinson’s disease (supported by Whittington Health Trust) and prostate cancer (supported by UCLH Cancer Charity).
Coach Development Programme
We have supported 20 participants through our Coach Development Programme. They have engaged in more than 150 hours of coach education, supported Arsenal in the Community sessions throughout the year and have had the chance to earn the opportunity to represent the club on international placements. As an example, you can read Bex’s story here.
Education and Employment
•The 2023/24 season started successfully for our Education and Employment programmes where in August we joined our students on our Sports Study Programmes in celebrating their Level 2 and Level 3 achievements. Students on our Level 3 students achieved our most successful results, with 66% of students achieving the highest level of triple distinction star. We also welcomed our new cohort of students in September.
•This season has seen us celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Arsenal Double Club programme. The programme combines practical football coaching with interactive Arsenal related classroom materials. We invited participants on the programme to attend our fixture at home to Brighton in December before hosting an author visit in February, our celebrations culminated at the Arsenal vs Leicester WSL fixture where we invited 25 former staff and partners to the game.
•Our secondary education programmes have grown significantly with our Premier League Inspires programme developing and reaching more than 350 students from local secondary schools. A number of events and workshops have taken place which has seen more than 35 staff from across the club volunteer their time to support the programme. In April students from The Excelsior Academy in Hackney represented Arsenal in the Premier League Inspires Challenge.
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