Bloomsbury Football is an organisation that has social impact built into our DNA. Our vision is to create a world in which the power of football is building stronger communities and supporting young people to become the happiest, healthiest and most confident versions of themselves.
The way that we do this is simple: we remove the cost barrier to accessing high-quality football training and let our coaches do their thing. Bloomsbury Football’s sessions are all designed to improve three key areas of a young person’s life: mental and physical health, teaching life skills and building a sense of community.
OUR THEORY OF CHANGE
Our Theory of Change model is a central driving force to Bloomsbury Football’s social impact mission, and this informs how we show up on the pitch and in life. This framework helps us to evaluate where our impact would be best felt, helping us to work with local community groups, residents and charities in every Bloomsbury community.
We developed our Theory of Change alongside the University of Westminster and ThinkBeyond. Divided into needs, activities, strategies and outcomes, we are proud to say that our theory of change model has been tried & tested, and that we are now improving the lives of over 5,000 young people per week across London.
We look at impact in a holistic way, evaluating both immediate impact and wider positive change. Caring and qualified coaches are at the heart of everything we do. By looking at the work we do through both a personal and a community lens, we make sure that not only are we improving individual lives every day, but that the work we do has a wider societal benefit. When we get on the pitch together, we truly are changing the game.
OUR IMPACT AT A GLANCe
WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES
All our work is focused in local communities, engaging young people aged 3-18 in local, affordable football sessions all within a 10-minute walk. Our place-based approach simultaneously removes price and location as barriers to participation, ensuring that as the young people in our communities grow older, there is always a Bloomsbury session for them nearby.
In each community, we engage young people initially in curricular and extra-curricular sessions in schools and free-to-access sessions in housing estates, before providing them with bursary places at our Foundation and Academy programmes, alongside specialist refugee and disability sessions. No child is ever turned away from a Bloomsbury session due to financial, disability or migrant status.
We collaborate with local community groups, resident associations and councils everywhere we work to ensure that everything we do is participant-led, by the community and for the community.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Bloomsbury Football’s financial assistance model tackles the price barriers that exist in the grassroots game.
This is how it works. Families who require financial assistance apply and are granted up to 80% off across our range of programmes. The application process is easy and non-invasive. Some of our sessions are completely free to all participants, such as all refugee sessions and open sessions run at estates across London. Full bursaries are also granted on a case-by-case basis.
Bloomsbury Football also runs ReBoot, an upcycling project that provides pre-loved football boots to players who require them. We also provide subsidises for kit purchase, ensuring that every one of our players has the kit and equipment needed to play and feel their best.