Over the last week or so, Fulham FC Foundation have run a wide range of events to showcase our Women & Girls activities and celebrate the contribution women make to Fulham.
Find out more about Women & Girls at Fulham FC Foundation
Fulham’s Female Football Festival
Fulham FC Foundation hosted a Female Football Festival on Saturday 4th March, which saw around 130 girls from across our skills club, PAN DisAbility, Girls Development Centre, Girls Kicks, as well as our Football & Education programme, take part in a series of small sided tournament style games to further develop their football skills, make new social connections across our programmes and develop their confidence in a safe, fun and inclusive environment. The eventful day closed with a medal ceremony presented by Fulham FC Women’s first team player Chloé Christison-McNee!
“I think this International Women’s Day tournament was a really important event as I felt comfortable playing football in an all-girls environment, it was great to celebrate a day of inspiring female role models such as coaches and players, I also found it really fun to meet new players from across the different programmes!” - Rheanne, Fulham Football & Education participant
Kingston Schools Girls Festival
Only 63 per cent of schools currently offer girls football in PE lessons. In collaboration with Kingston Borough Council, Fulham FC Foundation hosted nine local primary schools at the world-class Fulham FC Training Ground. Over 70 aspiring footballers were invited to the event to meet new friends, learn new skills and to represent their school in small-sided matches.
“It was genuinely inspiring to see so many young, female footballers have the opportunity to play football in a fun and safe environment. These opportunities were few and far between when I was a young – we are committed to supporting schools to help these young players on their journeys.” – Kayleigh Bowers, Fulham FC Foundation Primary Education Officer
Women’s Only Walking Football Tournament
Fulham FC Foundation hosted a Women’s Only Walking Football Tournament in celebration of International Women’s Day 2023. We had six teams attend from London, Surrey, and as far as Bedford, with 48 women taking part in the day.
It was excellent to see players ranging from beginners to internationals playing together, supporting each other and bringing the competition too! The day included goals from every team and a competitive final with Arsenal Lanesra coming out on top, securing the win with an excellent goal in the final.
“It was a cracking tournament. Excellent facilities and excellent organisation from start to finish. Thank you Fulham FC Foundation for hosting this event. It was a privilege to play.” – Jane, Women’s Only Walking Football participant
International Women’s Day at PL Inspires
Female students from Fulham FC Foundation’s Premier League Inspires programme at Dunraven School hosted a school event to celebrate International Women’s Day last week. The girls designated a space in their school hub for students, and invited guests to create art and crafts in a collage to display for all students. This artwork expressed a variety of positive words representing colours to inspire their fellow female students.
The group also wanted to invite other students in Years 8 & 9 to take part in a themed social action event #EmbraceEquality, with the goal to inspire, educate and motivate the students. With the help of the Fulham FC Foundation, they invited women working in “male dominated roles” to listen, interact, and ask questions about the challenges they face and how to overcome them, including Frankie Gibbs, one of our FFCW stars.
“International Women’s Day at Dunraven was a great success. Over 50 girls engaged with the event, writing inspirational messages or words and drawing pictures which were then displayed proudly for everyone to see. Our PL Inspires Girls participants planned the event and prepared amazing questions to ask the guest speakers who were then able to share their own experiences and offer advice to the girls. All I can say is ‘GIRL POWER!!!” - Lauren Binfield, Youth Engagement Officer, Fulham FC Foundation
“It was fantastic to be part of the International Women’s Day celebration event at Dunraven School. It was amazing to see so many students from across multiple year groups engage in the activities to educate and inspire others on what it means to be a women – they certainly inspired me! It was great to be able to share my own journey with the students, and I hope this along with hearing the journeys of the other guest speakers, allows the students to dream big and that anything is possible if they just be themselves.” - Sam Hadley, Football Development Manager, Fulham FC Foundation
