Foundation staff have been busy supporting participants and students through a wide range of innovative activities, despite the country being in lockdown due to the global pandemic.

In line with Government guidelines, the Foundation continue to run our Pan Disability sessions in person and are currently engaging with more than 50 participants a week.

Our highly trained coaches are delivering sessions three times a week to players aged five to 49-years-old, while. our cerebral palsy adults’ team have re-commenced biweekly training sessions in preparation for joining the National Cerebral Palsy League later this year.

Connecting with our senior supporters

Our Health and Wellbeing team are currently engaging with 180 seniors on a weekly basis through virtual physical activities, reminisce sessions and individual phone calls.

Foundation staff are also delivering more than 12 sessions a week to participants on our Activate Seniors, Scoring for Health and Active Families programmes, with activities including exercise and mobility, nutrition advice, circuits and soccercise.

We have also launched our Activate Seniors podcast which has kicked-off with an intergenerational offering, bringing young people from our Kicks programme and seniors together to discuss the current pandemic and how it has impacted their lives.

A helping hand to those in further education

Our College Academy programmes have been granted free premium access to the Chelsea FC Player Pathway app, Perfect Play, enabling Foundation staff to set three challenges a week to all college students, delivering virtual sessions and webinars incorporating development of performance analysis, scouting and UCAS life.

Working closely with the colleges, the Foundation has also been able to support college virtual trials, providing constructive feedback to potential students.

Students on our degree programme in collaboration with St Mary’s University have been given the opportunities with work placements within the Foundation to enable them to progress in their assignments and gain a greater knowledge of roles and opportunities within the sport sector.

Foundation coaches are also supporting students as mentors, assisting them with planning and delivering virtual sessions in preparation for delivery to female grassroots teams of up to 200 participants.

Foundation staff providing a virtual insight to help continue development

The Foundation’s Player Development programme has moved online, providing a number of different activities to our young male and female participants, including 2:2 coaching sessions, ‘Skill School’ challenges, girls only sessions and virtual workshops based on position specific requirements and player mindfulness and wellbeing.

Continuous Professional Development workshops are also being delivered to grassroots clubs to support them with coaching within a team environment, while our Foundation Sport Coordinators have been actively involved within their schools, both physically and virtually, to deliver a range of programmes to key worker pupils who require additional support.

Help the Chelsea Foundation support our communities

As we continue to deliver a range of programmes to help those most in need, the Chelsea Foundation has now called on fans to help support our wider communities and increase the number of people helped.

You can donate to the Chelsea Foundation appeal here

To book a place on our virtual sessions and workshops, click here

For more information on our further education, click here