Kicking off the 12 days was the fantastic news that we had scooped the Community Hero Award, having been nominated by Age UK for our response throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the second day, we focused on the Premier League-funded Chelsea Champion programme which has just launched its seventh school and aims to improve the emotional wellbeing and resilience of young people by offering secondary schools a unique timetable of activities.

On day three we celebrated the sixth anniversary of our entrepreneurial Edge of the Box Club programme, which since its launch in 2015 has seen over 7,000 start-ups come through the project. For the first time since the pandemic, the Foundation hosted a networking and celebratory event at Stamford Bridge with the club’s chief executive, Guy Laurence, in attendance to speak with participants involved in the project.

On the fourth day we announced the launch of the ‘Standing Together’ programme. The project will be delivered to Year 7 and 8 pupils – discussing themes of equality, diversity and inclusion.

On the fifth day of our Christmas countdown we celebrated the students on the BTEC level 3 sport programme at Fulham Cross Academy. Students voted for their Student of the Term and highlighted each other’s achievements following a successful few months.

At the halfway point we praised students on the Chelsea Foundation Coaching and Development Degree programme at St Mary’s University. Students organised an event at the university which included a futsal tournament.

Day seven saw us announce a fun-filled Christmas plan of activities for children on the Player Development Programme. An action-packed Christmas fixture list for the players saw them compete against West Ham United Foundation, Lincoln City and many others.

Eight days into our festive fun, we went around the world and showcased our international programmes, highlighting the Singapore Christmas sessions, featuring a four-week football programme for young participants in the country.

On day nine we stayed global and headed to the States, bringing the Champions League trophy on a tour across the USA. The Foundation team travelled alongside the trophy to Illinois, Texas, Philadelphia and New York delivering football sessions throughout the tour with special guests including Tore Andre Flo and Ashley Cole.

All eyes were on Mount Kelly College on the 10th day as the Foundation’s Girls Football Performance Programme took the limelight. Students travelled from Devon to the capital to get the full Chelsea experience with a tour of Stamford Bridge. They then headed to Kingsmeadow to watch Chelsea Women take on Juventus in the Champions League and also played in their very own fixture against another Chelsea college academy.

The penultimate day of our 12 Days of Christmas celebrations saw us congratulate two young people on the Chelsea Foundation X BCOMS bursary programme. Two young aspiring journalists were awarded bursaries to help them follow their dreams of reporting on elite sport. We look forward to welcoming them on board in the New Year.

On the 12th day of Christmas we celebrated our annual hospital visit. Despite not being able to attend in person due to Covid-19, players from the men’s and women’s team sent personalised video messages to children on the wards at Kingston Hospital and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and gift bags full of Chelsea goodies were dropped off by Chelsea Foundation’s Christmas elves.

Following the cancellation of Chelsea Women’s festive fixture against West Ham, we also donated over 500 mince pies to frontline workers at Kingston Hospital.

Chelsea Foundation would like to wish everyone a safe Christmas and a Happy New Year.