Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Premier Kicks: Wouldn’t it be great if healthier lifestyles for kids weren’t such an exclusive, cost-consuming lifestyle? Premier Kicks has created an inclusive scheme that involves young people from all walks of life, with national projects that invite people to get active for free.
The programme started with four pilot projects, at Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Fulham and Brentford, and following a three-year funding commitment from the Premier League, the programme has grown so that 90 Premier League, EFL and National League clubs will deliver sport and education sessions at over 700 venues in local communities where projects are needed most.
Over 175,000 young people have engaged in the programme between 2019-2022, enabling thousands of youngsters to find routes into education, training and employment with volunteering being a key component.
Football is a great leveller, bridging gaps of class and money, and is something that a community can really get behind: the Kicks programme is specifically designed to connect with disaffected youngsters, to build safe communities through the development of young people’s potential.
Kicks’ aim is to inspire more young people to get active in their communities and realise their potential: there are organisations all over the UK, adapted to creating location-specific events that benefit their region.
The Leeds-based arm of Kicks, for example, is dedicated to setting up a world-class sports-participation programme in the heart of Halton Moor, using the reach and appeal of Leeds United and the Leeds United Foundation to engage young people from areas of high need in; football, sport and personal development.
Kicks’ objective is to offer “additional opportunities for children and young people to develop their character, resilience and determination, and to inspire a change in behaviour, whilst developing their social responsibility and skills for their future.”
As we have pointed out, Kicks is available for youngsters all over the UK, so check out the Premier Kicks website here and find what’s going on in your area.
There is also another free programme called: Premier League Primary Stars is a subset of the Premier Kicks programme and inspires girls and boys aged 5-11 in the classroom, the playground and on the sports field.
The programme website has free to download activities, worksheets, lesson plans, fun assemblies and exclusive educational videos for everything from Maths and English to PE and group work, and exemplifies how this type of learning connects to the real world of sport to encourage resilience, diversity, self-esteem and fair play.
Over 17,000 schools have engaged with PL Primary Primary Stars and staff from over 100 professional Clubs run educational sessions in a range of subjects within local partner schools. Competitions range from national football tournaments, to creative writing and reading challenges to encourage the more reluctant readers.
Go to the website here to sign up.