The Arsenal Foundation has worked with Save the Children to create Coaching for Life, a groundbreaking new project that uses football to enhance the mental wellbeing of children in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan and slum communities of Jakarta, Indonesia. Arsenal in the Community’s Scarlett Hanrahan is working out in Jordan, training the local coaches who will deliver the project in Zaatari, and has seen the benefits first hand.
“I’ve been with Arsenal for nearly 15 years. I’m a visual and kinaesthetic learner, so sitting in a classroom became increasingly difficult for me. A mentor at my school found a programme called Arsenal Sport & Learning, where they used the club as a point of interest to engage young people in education. Freddie Hudson, my current line manager, and Martin Davis from the Community department were among the people who mentored me to where I am today.
“I’ve had various roles down the years, and most recently spent ten years travelling the world as international head coach, technical director and coach education tutor for Arsenal Soccer Schools. I’ve taught players and coaches how to ‘Play the Arsenal Way’ in places such as the USA, Australia, Japan, Iceland, Sweden, Italy and many more.
“I felt like I needed a new challenge but it’s very difficult to find a full-time role that includes both travel and coaching, so this project was the perfect opportunity for me.
“The aim of Coaching for Life at the Za’atari refugee camp is to help improve the mental wellbeing of children affected by conflict and violence – to help them build inner strength and courage through football. As well as educate coaches to deliver bespoke modules developed with Save the Children, together we have funded five football pitches in the camp and will deliver the same project in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. We’ve already funded seven pitches there, too.
“It’s been a life-changing experience for the children we’ve come into contact with and, incredibly, they always seem so happy and welcoming. We’ve seen such progress with both the male and female coaches too. This project is creating a safe, friendly and fun environment for the young people as well as raising their awareness of resilience in everyday life and giving them confidence to express themselves. You can see the children and adults have a real sense of belonging in and around the football pitches.
“We started off by delivering a coaching education programme, then spent two weeks observing and supporting the local coaches to deliver the resilience modules to their groups. We’ll continue to support them after we return to London, and will return to Jordan during the first of four 20-week cycles.
“Arsenal fans will probably be aware that Per Mertesacker has been heavily involved and visited the camp when we opened.
“That was hugely exciting for everyone here – seeing a World Cup winner is a obviously a rare occurrence, particularly when you live in a refugee camp, and his visit got everyone buzzing about Arsenal coming here. His visit provided a fantastic launch for us and everyone here is still talking about it. We’re hoping he’ll have the chance to come back and see the progress we’ve made soon.
“Working with Save the Children has been a great experience so far, and they’re very understanding of how we want the project to work from a football standpoint. They’re constantly checking in for updates and to see if we need anything. The staff are amazing, caring and understanding – they’ve been so supportive throughout our time here in Jordan. You can see the impact they’ve had, and the respect they have from the locals.
“I already have some amazing memories and I’ve experienced feelings here that I will never forget. Every day when I arrive in camp it feels as if my own troubles disappear and nothing is more important than those we are interacting with. I’ve never felt so grateful for and appreciative of life, family and friends.
“We’ve seen such progress, in terms of people interacting with each other and in creating a safe, friendly and fun environment.
“Next we’ll be heading to Indonesia to deliver Coaching for Life there and I’m excited about putting into practice what we’ve learned so far in Jordan. I’m looking forward to seeing the comparison between Za’atari and Jakarta – to see how the coaches, children and cultures differ and how that might impact the programme.
“Coaching for Life is a work in progress, so we’ll continue to find ways to develop the project and overcome the challenges we face along the way. But you can rest assured we will do our best to change lives for the better.”
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
