FFF Launch Educational Workshops
Football For Future are pleased to launch our climate education workshops on an inaugural project with Nike, Chelsea and Spurs.
England and Chelsea FC midfielder, and Ballon D’Or nominee Mason Mount welcomed young Londoners to Football For Future’s workshop at Stamford Bridge stadium, saying,
“Sustainability is really important for all of us to learn about, and if we all do our bit we can help to make a change.”
These pioneering educational workshops are building awareness about the relationship between football and climate change amongst the next generation, with more than 150 young Londoners engaged across the city region.
FFF delivered four educational workshops on the relationship between football & climate change to a total 150+ young Londonders (most between 13 and 14 years old), working with Nike and the foundations of Nike’s Premier League partners Chelsea FC & Tottenham Hotspur FC, and youth-focused charities Bloomsbury Football and Football Beyond Borders.
Describing the workshop, Chelsea FC Foundation Head of Education & Innovation, Sam Gaskin-Kemp, said:
“I think football’s a really powerful vehicle to engage young people, with such a current and important topic as climate change. This is a really good way to get them involved, really switch the lights on. They can relate. They can understand. They can see what’s happening on the pitch. They can think about their favorite players in the shirts, the kits that they might actually buy. Thinking about the recycled bottles that might go into making that shirt. Looking at football and thinking of the future.”
Lucy Marsh, an assistant principal at Stationers' Crown Woods Academy - who attended the educational workshop at the Stamford Bridge stadium also commented:
“I wanted to say how much our students enjoyed the day. For some of them this was an experience they would never normally have the chance for. They were absolutely buzzing on their return to school! Thank you for giving them that opportunity.”
The sessions were designed by the FFF team, and featured different subjects that used the language of football to communicate scientific concepts to children. The participants completed many different activities - exploring nature through the animals used in club badges, learning about the ‘blink of an eye’ that humans have been on earth for (coming into existence at the equivalent of 89 minutes and 59 seconds in a 90 minute game of football), and a group activity where the children presented their vision for a sustainable match day in the year 2030.
The relationship between football and climate change is clear. A quarter of English league football grounds will be at risk from flooding by 2050. Matches are already being delayed due to severe weather, including the Women’s Final at the Tokyo Olympics. Football has a unique opportunity to help lead a new path.
