This week, Pauline Harper-Manby and Natalie Loon had the pleasure of being invited to St. Andrew’s, the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club. They met with Antony Isherwood and Adam Stokes from the BCFC Foundation to explore how our partnership can continue to grow and deliver real, lasting impact for our care leavers.
It was a genuinely inspiring conversation. Together, we reflected on the success of our current campaigns — such as the food pantry — and discussed how we can build on this work for the years ahead. What stood out most was our shared commitment to giving care-experienced young people the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.
Our conversation focused on how we can strengthen pathways that support care leavers with:
- Upskilling and personal development
- Access to education, training and mentoring
- Creating realistic, achievable routes into employment
- Building confidence through inclusive community programmes
We are particularly excited about exploring how BCFC Foundation’s models, resources and expertise can align with Birmingham Children’s Trust’s pillars of practice, creating an aligned approach that helps young people grow, feel supported and develop a real sense of belonging.
Thank you to the team at Birmingham City Football Club Foundation for your warmth, your vision and your belief in what’s possible when organisations work together with purpose.
This partnership has already shown great promise — and this visit confirmed that we’re only just getting started.
