London Fire Brigade have teamed up with GOALS to deliver a community football programme to young people across four West London boroughs.
The Brigade’s programme combines football with fire safety advice and career mentoring to encourage young people to stay fit, safe, and future-focused.
Through GOALS, the Brigade is delivering the programme at Holiday Activity and Food Sessions, offered to recipients of Free School Meals. For the Brigade’s year-round programme, GOALS are providing free access to facilities and dedicated spaces for safety messaging.
Delivered free of charge, the programme is open to schools, youth clubs, community groups, football clubs and academies who work with young people aged 11-18 years old. The syllabus is tailored depending on skill, disability, gender and background and is delivered through six to eight sessions over several weeks.
The sessions use football training as a tool to demonstrate the importance of key life values, followed by informative discussions about fire safety advice and careers in the fire service and beyond.
The programme is being delivered by Sub Officer Kristopher Barry and Station Officer John Chinnery as one of the Brigade's community engagement initiatives.
Sub Officer Kristopher Barry said: “Our aim is to encourage disadvantaged young people to build healthy habits, transferable skills and a better understanding of fire safety.
“We want young people to believe in themselves and in their future, and football is a fantastic way to get this message across.
“The support of GOALS ensures that we can reach more young people, especially those who may not typically be able to access these types of opportunities.”
Martin Cassidy, National Football Development Officer at GOALS, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be partnered with London Fire Brigade — an iconic and respected organisation that plays such a vital role in our city.
“Through this partnership, we’re delivering free football sessions to local communities across London, led by fully qualified coaches. It's a privilege to work alongside LFB to inspire, engage, and support young people through sport.
“A key part of this partnership will be London Fire Brigade visiting our HAF camps, giving children the unique chance to learn about fire safety and meet the incredible firefighters who serve our communities.
“We’re also excited to launch our new 999 5-a-side tournaments, which will bring together teams from across the emergency services to raise vital funds for our charity partners.”
The Brigade’s programme has also been delivered to Chelsea Football Club Academy, St Charles Sixth Form College, The Avenues Youth Project and Masbro Youth Centre.
About the programme
To find out more, visit our Community Football Programme page or contact LFBfootballsection@london-fire.gov.uk.
You can find out more about London Fire Brigade’s Community Engagement initiatives here.