Leon Davies and Tom Knowles from Cambridge United’s first Team joined participants in a Premier League Kicks session yesterday in Orchard Park 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 Cambridge Police, Romsey Mill and Cambridge City Council Active Lifestyles team 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.
Leon Davies and Tom Knowles saw how young people in Orchard Park have been positively impacted by the programme and joined in with the Cambridge United Community Trust’s weekly Monday Football session.
After the Kicks session Leon Davies said: “The Community is always there supporting us on matchday, I think it’s great for us as footballers to try and give back as much as possible to come and join in events like this and put a smile on people’s faces”.
Cambridge United Community Trust has been running Premier League Kicks sessions for the past month since the programme launched in late September 2019 and has encouraged more than 80 participants to take part in positive activity.
Sam Gomarsall, Community Trust Manager said: “We are incredibly excited to launch Premier League Kicks in Cambridge for the first time. The programme offers young people in our target areas of Abbey, North Cambridge and Trumpington Meadows a safe, secure place to come to and an opportunity to participate in physical activity and workshops. We want to work together with other organisations to build a Cambridge which stronger, safer and inclusive for all: this programme is a vital way of us doing precisely that.”
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.”
Our PL Kicks Session Timings:
Mondays
Orchard Park Astroturf (CB4 2EZ)
5:00pm-6:00pm year 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9
9:00pm-10:00pm year 10, 11 ,12 & 13
Tuesdays
The Galfrid School (CB5 8ND)
3:30pm-4:30pm year 5 & 6
Wednesdays
Trumpington Community College 3G (CB2 9FD)
3:30pm-4:30pm year 7, 8 & 9
4:30-pm-5:30pm year 10, 11, 12 & 13
Fridays
Girls Fitness and Football session
Netherhall School 3G (CB1 8NN)
3:15pm-4:15pm year 7, 8, 9 & 10
Abbey Leisure Astroturf (CN5 8NT)
5:00pm-6:00pm year 7, 8 & 9
6:00pm-7:00pm year 10, 11, 12 & 13
To find out more about Premier League Kicks as either a participant or volunteer to find a local session, head to: https://www.cuctrust.co.uk/inclusion/pl-kicks/
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