TOGETHER FOR FOOTBALL
OUR FIVE-YEAR PLAN
TOGETHER FOR FOOTBALL
Together for Football is our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). We’ve adapted the acronym from ‘Equality’ to ‘Equity’ to emphasise that we recognise unequal starting points and fairness in outcomes; understanding that one approach or solution may not always work for everyone.
The Foundation is committed to being an incusive employer and has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of discrimination. Together for Football is a five-year plan running from 2026-2031, aligning with the Football Foundation’s organisational strategy, and is supported by annual Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans (DIAPs).
This second phase of Together for Football has been built upon the successes and learnings of our 2023‑2025 commitments and developed further through close collaboration with teammates from across the Football Foundation, and with the support of our senior leaders.
Together for Football is not a standalone initiative; it’s embedded across the Football Foundation, shaping how we operate, plan and develop. By integrating our EDI principles into our operational team plans, we aim to create a culture where inclusion is not just a priority but a shared responsibility.
OUR EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AMBITION
We deliver outstanding grassroots sports facilities, more and better locations to play, transforming lives and communities, where it’s needed most. This ensures everyone has a place to play. Our investment choices are led by football need but prioritised by their community impact.
Our ambition is to embed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion principles at the heart of what we do to bring about meaningful improvements to the way operate. In doing so, we’re determined to be an inclusive and diverse organisation that understands and makes a positive impact to the communities we serve.
What will this look like by 2031:
▶ Teammates continue to feel part of an inclusive culture and feel proud to work for the Foundation.
▶ That the Foundation has a more diverse workforce based on the characteristics we measure.
▶ Teammates report that the Foundation has moved further up our Inclusion Maturity Model, demonstrating progress in how inclusion is embedded across our work.
▶ External benchmarking has deepened our understanding, driven our progress, and informed our annual Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans (DIAPs).
▶ We’ll evaluate and report on the progress of Together for Football on an annual basis and publish the findings on our website.
OUR TOGETHER FOR FOOTBALL PRINCIPLES AND WAYS OF WORKING
We’ll…
▶ Stay informed and adaptable Keep up with external developments that may impact our EDI work, adapting our approach as needed, and learning from our partners and other like minded organisations.
▶ Encourage open dialogue Encourage conversations that help us learn from a range of lived experiences and perspectives.
▶ Commit to continuous learning Recognise that EDI is an area of ongoing change and learning, requiring a commitment to both personal and organisational development.
▶ Challenge our processes and ways of working Listen and act on feedback, and work closely with our partners to help improve access to our grants, ensuring they have a significant impact towards tackling inequalities for communities.
▶ Strengthen our understanding of impact and diversity
Establish a clear picture of the diversity of our workforce to inform targeted, meaningful action and ensure representation at all levels.
Together for Football is our commitment to embed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into the heart of our work.
Our ambition is constant –we are committed to working collaboratively with our funding partners, the Premier League, The FA and Government, to ensure our investment reaches communities that need it most; providing safe, welcoming places to play, that are accessible to everyone.
We want to sustain an inclusive culture, ensuring we're an employer of choice, fostering a sense of belonging and pride in our purpose for all of our teammates.
We firmly believe in the unique power and opportunity of sport in bringing people together through the facilities we fund, to provide everyone with a great place to play: Together for Football.
Robert Sullivan CEO
Sport remains a force for good, one that extends far beyond the pitch. At the Football Foundation, our commitment is unwavering, making sure that our facilities and programmes feel safe, welcoming, and genuinely inclusive.
With this new phase of Together for Football, we are doubling down on our commitments: to improve the environment of facilities, ensuring the grassroots game has safe and welcoming facilities that help to improve well-being, and provide an opportunity for participation for communities who need it most.
From lower socio economic groups, to culturally and racially diverse communities, from people living with disabilities, to women and girls, and beyond; we are prioritising investment and effort where barriers have existed for too long.
Together for Football is an opportunity to work together, share responsibility, and realise lasting change. With our partners, with grassroots volunteers, and passionate supporters, we will work to ensure football is more accessible to more people.
Karen Taylor EDI Board Champion
Who we are
The Premier League, The FA and Government’s Football Foundation is a unique charity partnership, bringing together public and private investment to harness the power of football to engage communities and provide grant giving expertise. Through our investment, we deliver facilities that inspire people to play, get healthy and come together.
Why we exist
Our mission is simple: to give every community a great place to play.
How we work
The Football Foundation brings together public and private investment to grant fund high-quality community sports facilities.
We’re on a national mission with a focus on local delivery. Our grant awards are assessed not only on their football and multi sport provision; but also, on their wider social impact. We strive to make our investment sustainable, both environmentally and financially, to ensure we create inclusive opportunities and outcomes across generations.
English football is evolving, and the Foundation must evolve with it. Guided by our Local Football Facilities Plans (LFFP), we systematically deliver where need is greatest and the greatest impact will be made, creating inclusive opportunities for generations to come. We don’t invest and walk away; we support every facility at every stage. Between now and 2031, our game changing strategic plan will see us support the growth of the women’s and girls’ game, provide the facilities that grassroots organisations need, back our biggest and best clubs and ensure we know about every pitch and how best to support them.
After 25 years of progress, thousands already play on facilities we’ve funded, but there’s more to do. As the game evolves, our game changing plan will deliver the facilities it needs, giving every community a great place to play, inspiring healthier lives and strengthening communities every day.
That’s why we exist.
Our investment choices are led by football need but prioritised by their community impact.
That’s how we work.
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO WORK AT THE FOUNDATION?
Our aim is to create a workplace where everyone can be themselves, uphold our Four Corners (our values) and be proud to say they work for a Foundation which is making a difference. Here’s what our teammates had to say in our most recent Squad Survey.
The compulsory EDI training was a great way to inform and educate around the EDI agenda and I think has been helpful in opening up cultural conversations that might have been worrying to raise previously.
Generally a fantastic place to work with amazing colleagues. Everyone really cares about what we do and is committed to our ongoing success.
I have seen that the Foundation has a very clear focus on improving its commitment to EDI and tackling inequalities.
I think the Foundation shows a strong commitment to EDI and tackling inequalities through the projects we fund where there are strong focuses on Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and women and girls and other inequalities.
What you think the Foundation does well?
Everyone at the Foundation is really passionate about what they do which is credit to the hiring process and the organisation’s purpose as a whole.
For internal culture and team togetherness the Squad Meet Ups have been a great introduction. The strategic updates at these is always a great way to get to understand where my job fits in with the overall purpose.
The Foundation is a great place to work that lives by its values. The culture in my team in particular is really good – they are kind, fun and respectful, which makes working with them amazing.
My experience has exceeded expectations and I genuinely love what I do, the way we are encouraged to work and the communication channels established by my direct line manager.
Inclusion and making people feel welcome. I have had line managers and CEOs in the past that have intimidated people. That isn’t the case here and everyone is treated with respect.
The culture at the Foundation is great and the work we do does have an impact on improving people’s lives. It is a brilliant place to work and I genuinely love telling people who I work for and I enjoy going to work.
Our Four Corners are the values we uphold as a Foundation. They describe how we go about our work, how we treat each other and how our teammates, and all those who interact with the Foundation, can expect to be treated. EDI is implicit throughout each one of our corners and by living up to them, we’re demonstrating our commitment to EDI.
With this new phase of Together for Football, we will continue to look for ways in which we can enhance our culture and bring our Four Corners to life. Here are some of the initiatives that have helped us to achieve this.
VIP Days
During our first Squad Meet Up way back in 2023, we spent the EDI related session brainstorming ideas in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ format. The session sparked lively discussions, followed by team members pitching their ideas. The winning idea centred around solving two key issues:
WE ARE STAR PERFORMERS
We unlock the power of pitches. We transform lives and strengthen communities. Whatever position we play in, we always strive for excellence.
WE ARE A UNITED TEAM
We support each other and work together to deliver the greatest impact wherever it’s needed the most. Nothing brings people together like sport, and teamwork is at the heart of what we do.
WE ARE PASSIONATE SUPPORTERS
We support the game in any way we can. We make sure applicants access funding as easily as possible. We work with partners to deliver outstanding football facilities. We transform lives and communities on behalf of our funding partners.
WE ARE FAIR PLAYERS
Being inclusive and understanding diversity allows us to tackle inequalities through everything we do. We play fair regardless of gender, race, ability or place, from the star performers we recruit, to the way we work; from the facilities we fund, to the people who play on them.
1. Creating stronger connections across teams, building an inclusive culture and addressing a challenge arising from our Squad Survey, which was to increase communication between teams.
2. ‘Do some good’ out in the community, more directly, bringing teammates closer to our core work. Offering an opportunity for teammates who don’t normally work together to get to know each other and to get out to see sites and projects they wouldn’t normally be able to.
VIP Days are teammate led; teammates organise volunteering opportunities and the Foundation supports groups of teammates by offering paid volunteer day time, lunch and reasonable travel costs.
VIP Awards
Our VIP (Values in Practice) Awards are an opportunity to celebrate how teams and individuals bring our Four Corners to life, with nominations by teammates for teammates. Teammates who’ve modelled our values in their working behaviours, receive ‘shout‑outs’ and each Value category will be whittled down to one star performer, with ‘winners’ and one Golden Boot award for a teammate who has gone above and beyond in that year.
Share a Cuppa
Share a Cuppa is an initiative we introduced during the Covid period to help teammates stay connected while working remotely. It’s become such a valued part of our culture that we’ve continued it ever since. The idea is simple: teammates sign up, and every month or so they’re randomly grouped and sent an email with all the details they need. Then it’s just a case of putting the kettle on and catching up over Teams—no work talk allowed. It’s a great way to take a break, get to know colleagues from across the Foundation, and strengthen connections in a relaxed, informal way.
WHAT DOES EDI AND RELATED TERMINOLOGY MEAN?
Equality + Equity
Removing barriers and helping people to have equal access opportunities.
Equality – is about making every effort to eliminate any form of discrimination, creating equal opportunities, and developing good working relationships between different people.
Equity – doesn’t mean treating everyone the same, it’s about minimising the barriers that individuals face. Creating opportunities for people to participate in different ways and creating an equal playing field, so that an individual’s outcomes have the potential to be the same.
Diversity
The mix of who we are.
We see diversity, in its broadest sense, as a huge strength. With a diverse mix of people, with different thoughts, ideas, and perspectives, we know we’ll be able to problem solve and make better and more creative decisions.
The Equality Act 2010, references nine protected characteristics (age, disability, trans or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender or sex, and sexual orientation). Differences can be visible and non visible. Diversity is all these things and more. By adopting a broader approach, we can consider socio economic backgrounds, caring responsibilities, menopause, neurodiversity, and the diversity of our thinking and working styles.
Diversity gives us the mix of people within and interacting with the Foundation.
Inclusion
How we ensure everyone can contribute, in the way that they feel comfortable.
We all know what it feels like when we’re not included. To feel left out, left behind or to not have our needs or views considered doesn’t feel good. And when we feel like that we don’t perform at our best.
Establishing a culture of inclusion means that everyone’s voice and perspective matters. It’s about feeling seen. Ensuring people feel like they can be themselves and that they feel like a valued part of the team.
Belonging
Belonging is similar to inclusion, but relates to people feeling secure and proud of being a part of a certain group or organisation.
People feel a sense of belonging when they feel connected to something bigger than themselves. We want people to feel they belong at the Foundation because of a shared understanding and commitment to the Foundation’s values and purpose. Teammates consistently report feeling a sense of pride in the Foundation and its work, and we want to ensure this continues.
Culture
By culture we mean the collective set of values and habits that influence our actions.
It’s the unwritten and written rules of how people work with each other, our applicants and stakeholders, and how we bring to life our Four Corners. Together, these create the atmosphere that shapes the way we work and how we all think, act, and behave.
2022-2024 SelfAssessment Result
Through self assessment, the Foundation currently sees its position as progressing from established to integrated; our aim is to progress through this maturity model and imbed inclusion into everything we do and every decision we make.
Embedded
Inclusion and diversity is seen as a major asset, truly embedded into all areas and considered in decision making. All employees see an inclusive culture as being beneficial and as their responsibility to maintain. Both employees and organisations reap the benefit.
Integrated
Inclusion and diversity is seen as a priority business matter. The culture shows clear signs of change. The lived experience for the majority of employees is positive and the actions of leaders and line managers match the corporate message of commitment.
Established
Business case established with support from leadership and champions within the organisation. Processes, systems and policies are in place, a programme of initiatives is designed which results in measurable progress but not all areas of the organisation are implementing established policies / processes effectively.
Inconsistent
Ad hoc programmes and initiatives, often strand specific* and unconnected.
Compliance with the law.
Avoidance
No recognition of the need for inclusion and diversion activity.
2021
Active Through Football is launched, a programme which identifies and works with key target audiences that face some of the greatest inequalities to being physically active. It aims to increase activity levels and create sustained behaviour change using a ‘Place based’ approach. We invested in 13 Places over five years, with an aim of tackling some of the inequalities that make certain communities less active than others.
Launched our ‘Four Corners’, our company values. They set out the way we work and key behaviours that all teammates are expected to embody.
Recruited and launched the Foundation’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group
2022
Announced our ‘HERe to play’ campaign – our biggest ever commitment to supporting women's and girls' football, cutting the ribbon on new pitches named after the Lionesses and delivering Lionesses Futures Fund grants that will ensure sites are prioritising access for women and girls.
Given the quality of applications received in the first phase, there was clearly a need to deliver Active Through Football programmes more widely and further investment was secured for an additional 12 places to join the programme in Spring 2022.
2023
Formed our Mental Health Ambassador network –providing all our volunteer Ambassadors with mental health first aid training.
Launched the first Together for Football strategy (2023 2025).
Developed our Community Engagement Toolkit , to support applicants in their community engagement activities.
Carried out a recruitment review, leading to a meaningful set of actions and recommendations being put into practice to strengthen inclusion at every stage of the process.
2024
Integrated an accessibility tool onto our website to further improve accessibility and user experience.
Rolled out our Conscious Inclusion training to give all team members the opportunity to engage with and reflect on inclusive practices.
The Foundation opened its first Football Foundation PlayZone, and community led, multi sport facilities begin popping up in some of the most inactive areas of the country.
Kelly Simmons OBE, conducted an independent review of the Foundation’s investment in the women’s and girls’ game to ensure that as the game continues to grow at pace, the Foundation is maximising both its impact and the value of its investment.
Careers page of the Foundation website was refreshed, including a film to showcase the Foundation’s cultures and values, with the aim of appealing to a more diverse candidate pool.
Launched ‘The Change Room’ a community group chat and resource hub for teammates experiencing menopause and perimenopause symptoms.
Launched an internal mentoring programme, pairing teammates to support learning, development and connection.
Completed our first ‘Together for Football’ strategy and published a detailed evaluation report.
The Football Foundation marks 25 years of progress towards our mission to provide every community with a great place to play – celebrating achievements, sharing best practice, and looking ahead to what’s next.
The Foundation launches its 5-year Gamechanger strategy.
As we concluded Together for Football 2023-2025, we undertook a Foundation-wide consultation to ensure every team contributed to shaping Together for Football 2026-2031. This process helped evaluate which actions delivered the greatest impact and identify opportunities to build on and strengthen our progress towards achieving our EDI ambitions.
Our activities will be organised into the following pillars of work. Under each pillar, our teammates have identified and committed to a set of actions, that we believe will deliver meaningful and lasting impact.
Pillars
Inclusive Culture and Belonging
focus areas
Improving and maintaining our culture
We aim to cultivate an environment where inclusive behaviours are recognised and celebrated, and where everyone feels valued, supported, and connected to our shared purpose. By embedding our ‘Four Corners’ into everyday working life, we’ll continue to build a culture teammates are proud to be part of and one where teammates are inspired to go the extra mile.
Access, Participation and Engagement
Understanding and monitoring our impact
We’re committed to understanding and monitoring our impact, targeting investment where it’s needed most, and working closely with communities to engage underrepresented groups. By listening actively and staying responsive, we’ll work to remove barriers and adapt to the needs of those we aim to support.
Representation Increasing our workforce diversity
We’re focused on improving diversity across our workforce and strengthening how we collect and use demographic data. By tracking who is taking part in our programmes and who is part of our team, we can better understand gaps, measure progress, and take meaningful action to ensure fair representation at every level.
Governance and Compliance
Education, Training and Continuous Improvement
Keeping track of good practice / changes to employment law and ensuring we’re equipped to deliver and adapt We’re committed to staying up to date with best practice and legislative changes, ensuring we’re equipped to meet our responsibilities, adapt as needed and reduce organisational risk. We would do this through policy development, benchmarking, and clear tracking of our progress.
Delivering training and providing guidance at the appropriate level
We’ll deliver the right training and guidance at the right time, supporting all teammates to build confidence and capability. Through ongoing learning, sharing good practice and developing accessible resources, we’ll embed inclusion into everything we do.
For us to succeed in our ambition, it’s going to take the whole team, and we’ll need everyone to play their part.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Our CEO plays a central and active role in delivering Together for Football by setting the vision, tone, and accountability for inclusion across the organisation. Our CEO’s influence ensures EDI is not treated as a standalone initiative but embedded in culture, governance, and strategy.
Senior Management Team (SMT)
Our Senior Management Team, has a responsibility to lead by example, setting the standard by role modelling our values and behaviours set out in our Four Corners. Our leaders break down barriers and drive this agenda forward, helping to bring about the change we want to see. They translate the Together for Football strategy into lived culture and measurable outcomes. While the Board provides strategic oversight, the SMT is responsible for operational delivery, and ensuring accountability across all departments.
Our Board Champion
Our Board Champion provides strategic leadership and oversight, actively challenging and promoting EDI, ensuring the Board remains informed about the progress made.
Funding Partners / Board and Panels
We know that EDI is as important to our funding partners, Board and our Panels as it is to us, and we recognise we have a shared vision. Together we have developed innovative programmes and initiatives with the funding we receive, and we want to continue to impact diverse communities, bringing more opportunities for more people to participate in sport and enjoy the wealth of benefits it brings. Our unique position means that we can share best practice and ideas between our network of funding partners, developing initiatives alongside multiple partner organisations, and helping to bring about the best outcomes.
EDI Lead
Responsible for implementing the Together for Football strategy, our EDI Lead is a subject matter expert, who works with senior leaders, teammates across the Foundation, and external stakeholders to ensure alignment with current thinking and good practice. They oversee progress and drive continuous improvement by measuring impact through data and KPIs, designing and delivering training, supporting recruitment and workforce development alongside the HR team, and managing our EDI Advisory Group.
Teammates
Together for Football aims to help every teammate understand how they can personally drive positive change, deepen their understanding of EDI, and bring a more inclusive approach in their work. Our ambitions for EDI are high, and continued progress relies on the commitment of the whole team. There are already excellent examples of individuals and teams embedding EDI into their work, and by building on this, we hope to achieve the wider ambitions of the strategy for the Foundation and for football more broadly.
EDI Advisory Group
Members of our EDI Advisory Group demonstrate a strong commitment to making a difference to inclusion and diversity. Representing different teams with different experiences and perspectives, they act as critical friends within the Foundation by providing a ‘check and challenge’ function. They review new proposals, policies and procedures through an EDI lens, helping ensure decisions consider different perspectives and minimise unintended impacts to any group or community. The group also identifies opportunities and suggests new ideas and initiatives to help make work more inclusive.
Group members:
▶ Advise on specific items that arise and check and challenge projects or initiatives from an inclusion perspective.
▶ Help to monitor progress against the actions set out within this strategy.
▶ Are individuals from a range of backgrounds who collectively will bring diversity in thought, expertise and experience.
▶ Participate in and lead EDI related initiatives and events.
Mental Health Ambassadors
Our trained Mental Health Ambassadors play a key role in promoting a positive mental health culture within the Foundation and helping to challenge stigma by:
▶ Engaging teammates through initiatives, challenges and training opportunities.
▶ Coordinating with fellow Ambassadors to share key messages consistently throughout the year.
▶ Planning and delivering activities for national or global mental health awareness days (such as the recent ‘Share a Cuppa’ initiative for Time to Talk Day).
▶ Collectively deciding which awareness days to promote each year.
They are also available to provide initial support to individuals in distress, signposting them to further support and the Foundation’s Employee Assistance Programme.
Culture Champions
A Culture Champion is someone who believes in, helps develop, and champions the culture of their organisation. They play an important role in helping implement and sustain cultural change, and in finding ways to bring that culture to life. Here are some things that sum up Culture Champions and the part they can play within our organisation:
▶ Culture Champions have their fingers on the pulse to highlight and help fix any issues that may be impacting the wider team to help drive engagement levels.
▶ They’re a trusted voice who can represent what’s happening and how team members are feeling.
▶ They help with two way communication, they can cascade and share updates across teams, as well as share feedback to the group or to management on current issues.
▶ Culture Champions role model the changes or actions needed to show their commitment to the culture change programme.
TEAM WORK
EDI KPI 1
There are two separate EDI related Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which the Foundation measures on an annual basis.
The first EDI KPI is an internal inclusion measure. This KPI is compiled from our Annual Squad Survey data and designed to be a temperature check of how team members are feeling.
The target for each of the last four years has been 4.4 out of 5. The average considers 11 questions, divided into 2 tiers of question; Tier 1 questions relate directly to a teammate’s sense of inclusion and belonging; Tier 2 questions also relate to inclusion and belonging, but less directly.
As such, Tier 1 questions carry a greater weighting on the average than Tier 2 questions. In 2023, the Foundation was slightly under target, at 4.3; in 2024, the average dropped to 4.2, and in 2025, the average has dropped to 4.1.
Below target
There are two observations to make:
Firstly, while we may not have reached our target score, we remain encouraged by the results. Whilst there has been a slight downward trend recently, 4.1 is still an indication that inclusion and diversity at the Foundation is perceived extremely positively.
In each case, the Tier 2 questions (i.e. the less directly related questions) have underperformed the Tier 1 questions. This means that direct sentiment of diversity and inclusion, such as “I feel I can be myself” and “I feel comfortable expression my opinions and ideas” outperform the less directly related questions.
The Foundation’s goal will be to maintain or improve this average in the future.
EDI KPI 2
The objective of this KPI is to measure whether a project is on track to meet the target it had set as part of its application.
In January and February 2024, the Grant Assessment Team undertook an exercise to understand how projects awarded since June 2023 are delivering against the Project Assessment Matrix around four key themes: Management, Multi-Sport, Women and Girls and under-represented groups (Disability, Lower Socio-Economic Group opportunities, Diverse Ethnic Communities).
Data is taken from post award surveys conducted by the Grant Assessment Team, who are tasked with scoring funded facilities in relation to how well the facility is performing against the criteria that was set for the facility to benefit under-represented groups.
In 2025 the Foundation exceeded its target by 8%, accessing 99 sites which had been awarded large grants within the current funding period.
Below target
Below target
