Foundation's Australian activations leave 'immeasurable' impact

Aston Villa Foundation delivered a wide range of activities, interacting with hundreds of people, in Perth last week as part of the club’s pre-season tour in Australia.

In the build-up to Villa’s match against Manchester United at Optus Stadium, staff from the club’s official charity were busy building links and relationships in the local community.

The Foundation began the week by supporting the charitable arm of Football West, Football Futures Foundation (FFF), with the launch of their Visual Impairment football league.

Staff delivered drills alongside an FFF coach to a small group of male and female players, with the session marking the beginning of Western Australia’s VI league – an event that was covered on national news outlet Channel 10.

Foundation coaches then took centre stage at a forum of over 60 local coaches, sharing their expertise and knowledge about the academy structures at Villa and their coaching philosophies.

Brent Hedley, Executive Officer at FFF, said: “The impact of Aston Villa’s recent time in Western Australia is immeasurable.

“Our Australian football for good charity, Football Futures Foundation, was especially thrilled to partner with Aston Villa Foundation on this tour.

“The Foundation coaching staff did an incredible job leading the delivery of initiatives that served a number of key WA communities, including children with hearing loss and the vision impaired.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday, over 450 primary and secondary school children benefitted from Foundation activities, which included a focus on maths and building leadership skills.

Eighty budding female footballers from the National Talent Centre (Under-12s through to Under-18s) and 20 boys from the Western Australia State Under-15 team also received coaching sessions led by the Foundation.

Andrew Firman, Project Manager at Football West, said: “The Villa Foundation team delivered more than we at Football West had even dreamed of in a manner that was full of true passion and enthusiasm for the game.

“We can’t wait for the next chance to come our way and the legacy from this initial trip will be felt for a long time to come.”

The week ended on a high note when head coach Steven Gerrard attended a Foundation coaching session at the Telethon Institute.

Sixty children aged 5-12 with speech and hearing impediments took part in the activity, with Gerrard delighting participants by signing autographs and posing for photos.

Head of Foundation & Community, Guy Rippon said: “We had a fantastic week in Perth and the club made a conscious decision that we wanted to embed ourselves into the footballing community in the build-up to the game against Manchester United.

“We delivered a wide range of activities to children, young people and adults across the week that incorporated football coaching, educational activities, leadership skills and information sharing with teachers and coaches.

“We are very grateful to Football West and the Football Futures Foundation for the opportunity to work with them and we look forward to exploring longer-term partnership opportunities in Perth and Western Australia.”