11 years at Arsenal Football Club
I started as a community volunteer whilst studying, became a participant, sessional coach and then a full-time member of staff.
My role was extremely varied, split between managing projects in education and coaching, working closely with the local authority, Comms & PR, event planning, IT and Equality & Diversity.
Having such a mixed role gave me access to almost every part of the club, allowing me to gain valuable experience and build fantastic relationships along the way. Have a look at some of the highlights below.
Projects managed
Arsenal Double Club
Using the power of football to encourage pupils to learn a language in school. Alongside specialist language partners, we created learning materials in French, German and Spanish, including pupil workbooks, practical games and video content featuring Arsenal players. Participating schools also had the opportunity to visit Emirates Stadium for a language-themed tour. The programme ran for 15 years and demonstrated how combining football and language learning can raise young people’s aspirations, attainment and confidence.
Arsenal Gap Year
A coaching programme that gives young people an entry point into grassroots football coaching. Each year, two cohorts undertake a period of intensive coach education, including the FA Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Football, before building their coaching experience in schools and local community sessions. Suitable participants are then offered a coaching placement abroad for up to 4 months in countries including Kenya, Barbados, Mexico, India, Australia, Bolivia, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia and the Philippines.
Arsenal Training Centre
Having a vibrant community programme in and around the Training Ground helped build and maintain an excellent working relationship with Hertsmere Borough Council.
Alongside weekly sessions in local schools, we hosted regular events at the Training Ground, including football tournaments, educational workshops and soccer schools. Many local children were even able to go behind-the-scenes for an exclusive tour.
The effective partnership with the local authority contributed to successful planning applications for several multi-million pound developments to the Training Ground as Arsenal continued to invest in their world-class training facilities.
Comms & PR
Player content
After weeks of requesting access, planning the content and organising logistics, filming with the players can be a lot of fun, but also very challenging. It certainly isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds!
With some players, having language skills was key. Just spending a few moments breaking the ice in their native language would often bring more of their personality out, which naturally made for better content.
I have had players do interviews, read scripted lines from an autocue, greet some guests, travel offsite to visit a community group and much more. This includes some of the biggest male and female players and coaches in the game.
Social media
Growing Arsenal in the Community’s Twitter following by over 10k by establishing a consistent, more interactive tone, more varied content and stronger storytelling. I also launched the department’s Instagram account, gaining over 26k followers in 3 years.
Video content
Producing content to showcase various community projects and demonstrate impact. Working with a camera operator and video editor, I would storyboard and script the piece and oversee the post-production process through to sign off.
Website
Updating the community pages on the official Arsenal website, with clearer navigation and more engaging content for all projects.
Event Planning
Arsenal in the Community Awards
One of the lead organisers of an annual award ceremony to recognise the achievements of participants across all community projects.
World Cup 2014
A national languages competition for schools, with 20 winning groups attending a celebration day at Emirates Stadium co-hosted by multilingual TV Presenter Kate Abdo.
World Cup 2018
Following the success of the 2014 project, 250 schools entered a similar competition with selected groups attending the celebration event at Emirates Stadium.
IT
Interactive Q&A
My IT role for Arsenal in the Community became even more important in light of Covid-19. After upskilling colleagues on software suddenly needed to work from home, my attention turned to finding solutions to continue interacting with community participants during lockdown. With the support of Arsenal Digital, we launched “Arsenal Home Learning”, which gave children the opportunity to submit questions to Arsenal legends through educational activities completed at home. Hosted by Tom Watt, and using a virtual studio, we conducted live Q&As with Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Michael Thomas, Sol Campbell and David Seaman.
Virtual School Assemblies
With some children still in school and others at home, teachers were asking us for suitable activities that would engage everyone. Using the Live Event feature on Microsoft Teams, I led the design and delivery of Virtual School Assemblies, covering topics including languages, resilience and physical wellbeing. This format allowed us to deliver an interactive presentation, set tasks, conduct polls and generate responses. We also ran competitions during virtual assemblies and could accommodate multiple classes from multiple schools during one broadcast.
Equality & Diversity
One of the founding members of Arsenal’s “Ethnic Diversity Advisory Group” (EDAG), which advises on company policies, ambitions and communications in the equality and diversity space. It is also a safe space for colleagues to share their perspectives, challenges and experiences.
Within the group’s first year, we successfully campaigned for the introduction of mandatory implicit bias training for hiring managers. We also had a strong influence in the club’s public response to the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020.
Increasing awareness and visibility of Arsenal’s female players was also particularly important to me - not just in the community, but among staff members too. By simply following the matches, knowing the names and backgrounds of individual players, increasing the visibility of female players in educational materials and organising player appearances helped me to demonstrate that it was our responsibility to drive representation.