Giving Grassroots Football a Foundation to Build On

In Northfield, one of Birmingham's most deprived wards, the nearest structured football facility was a 40-minute bus journey away. For families without cars — and without the disposable income for club membership fees — organised sport was simply inaccessible. The Parkside Athletic Trust had been running informal sessions on a waterlogged grass pitch for years, knowing that a proper facility would change everything.

The Sanghera Foundation's three-year grant of £180,000 enabled The Parkside Athletic Trust to lease municipal land, lay two all-weather 3G pitches, erect floodlighting, and construct changing facilities. For the first time, the Trust could run year-round sessions, accept referrals from local schools, and build the kind of sustained programme that creates lasting change in young people's lives.

Within twelve months of the pitches opening, six hundred young people had participated in structured sporting activity through the Trust — many for the first time. Attendance at the Trust's academic mentorship sessions, run in partnership with the pitches, rose by 74%. The facility also attracted four FA-registered youth clubs, creating a competitive pathway for the most talented players.

The Trust's model — sport as a gateway to broader wellbeing support — has since been cited by Sport England as an example of best practice in grassroots provision. The Sanghera Foundation continued its partnership into a second cycle, funding the Trust's expansion to a third pitch and the appointment of a full-time community development officer.