FBB was set up in 2014 to combat the UK’s national crisis of school exclusions and low attainment, which disproportionately affects some of the most vulnerable young people in society.
Our mission is to help young people who experience disadvantage to develop the skills and grades necessary to transition into adulthood. Our work is focused on the most vulnerable young people in schools and building their strengths and assets. It is trauma-informed and delivered frequently with high contact time (at least 90 mins per week) and over the long term (minimum two years). We deliver an intensive curriculum which helps young people develop SEL skills in the classroom and on the football pitch. This combines with 1 to 1 therapeutic mentoring and school advocacy, parent and carer engagement, transformational rewards trips and enrichment activities to provide positive experiences, safety and trust with young people and among their peers. We also work with schools to deliver Continuous Professional Development and Reflective Practice Groups to improve whole-school approaches to inclusion and spread best practices.
FBB was formed by a group of students who toured the world using football as a tool for social cohesion. In 2014, our founders began delivering a programme with 15 young people in London. We now run 141 programmes and directly support over 2600 young people across the three major cities in England (London, Manchester, Birmingham). The UK recently ranked 71st out of 74 countries for children's wellbeing in a recent OECD survey. We work in partnership with schools and receive referrals from teachers, multi-academy trusts and via our strong brand presence (90k following across all platforms).
Ask your teacher, school or parent to reach out to us. We partner with schools to deliver our innovation. There are 'core' and 'flexible' elements to our model and we also offer Continuous Professional Development and Reflective Practice groups to all educators to help implement trusted relationships with young people.