The Premier League Foundation and EFL in the Community will support more than 2,800 young people through their network of football club charities, as part of the expansion of Building Futures, an early-intervention mentoring programme.
Through Building Futures, trained practitioners from football club charities will give weekly one-to-one mentoring to pupils in Years 8 to 10 who are facing challenges that may increase their risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET) later in life.
The mentoring is tailored to each young person and runs for 45 to 60 minutes a week over six months. It aims to improve engagement with education, support wellbeing and raise aspirations for the future. The two organisations will use the reach and experience of the football club charity network to deliver it in secondary schools across England.
Premier League Foundation Chief Executive Alex White said: “The Premier League Foundation and our partner EFL in the Community believe in the power of sport to break down barriers and empower young people to reach their potential. That’s why we are delighted to be working with Youth Futures Foundation as they scale up their Building Futures programme.”
Building Futures is led by Youth Futures Foundation, the national What Works Centre for youth employment, and funded through the Dormant Assets Scheme, with funding awarded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It was launched in 2024, and its first test-and-learn phase was delivered with Football Beyond Borders.
Alongside the football club charities, Power2, Youth Federation and St Giles Trust will each support 565 young people. Together, Building Futures will reach 4,500 young people across England by April 2028.
Chris Goulden, Interim Deputy CEO at Youth Futures Foundation, said: “Too many young people reach the end of secondary school without the support they need to make a successful transition into further education, training or work. Building Futures intervenes earlier, giving pupils sustained, individual support at a critical stage in their lives.”
The expansion comes as the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that around 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 across the UK are not earning or learning. Youth Futures Foundation research links poor attendance, exclusion and low GCSE attainment at secondary school with a higher risk of becoming NEET later in life.
The programme is part of the Premier League’s wider ambition to support 250,000 young people at risk of becoming NEET over the next five years. The National Foundation for Educational Research will independently evaluate it, with an impact evaluation due to begin in September 2027 looking at school attendance, other short- and medium-term outcomes, and cost-effectiveness.
Source: Premier League https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4756265/premier-league-foundation-to-support-more-than-2800-young-people-through-building-futures