Young people representing Colchester United Community Foundation joined hundreds from across England and Wales in this year’s Premier League Inspires Challenge celebration, a national event that uses football to empower 11–to-18-year-olds through life skills, mentoring, and social action.
The Challenge is one element of the Premier League Inspires programme, which supports 11–to-18-year-olds who may be at risk of not reaching their potential as they move through the education system and into early adulthood. The Premier League, through its Foundation, currently funds 54 football club charities to run Premier League Inspires sessions in secondary schools on a weekly basis.
This season, young people have been tasked with a social action project to come up with ways in which they would support young people’s mental wellbeing in their communities.
Earlier this season, six of our partner schools came together to share their project ideas at our Premier League Inspires Challenge Event at the JobServe Community Stadium. The winning team from Lift Maltings School developed a project that supports young people’s mental health through a student support hub.
Louis Garbett, Head of Health & Inclusion at Colchester United Community Foundation, said: “We’re really proud to see Lift Maltings School representing us at the Premier League Inspires Event. The effort they’ve put into their project, especially focusing on supporting mental health within their school, has been fantastic to see and is a real credit to them.”
The focus on mental wellbeing aligns closely with the Premier League’s Inside Matters initiative, which highlights the League’s and clubs’ ongoing commitment to raising awareness of the topic and encouraging fans to check in on the wellbeing of others.
Having won their local heat, Colchester United Community Foundation participants joined hundreds of young people at the Premier League Inspires Challenge celebration event at Everton's Hill Dickinson stadium at the end of April.