Nathaniel Chalobah sees how the club’s Foundation will use a rejuvenated pitch in Brixton to engage with local community

The Fulham Foundation has a long history of engaging with young people in their local communities and this work will be extended with the renovation of a communal facility in the heart of south London. 

The original sports court at the Roupell Park estate in Brixton was concrete and gave residents limited opportunity to take part in structured football and multi-sport activity.

But with the help of a £92,000 grant from the Football Foundation, which is funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government (via Sport England), the local community now has a floodlit 3G multi-use games area.

This facility will host a variety of programmes such as Premier League Kicks, Premier League Girls Kicks, Pan DisAbility, More Than A Game and Walking Football, with the Fulham Foundation aiming to engage more than 200 people across four nights a week.

“We’ve been working on this project for the best part of four years now and to be here, seeing an amazing facility will really make a difference to this estate and the young people we want to engage,” said Fulham Foundation CEO Mike McSweeney.

Fulham first-team midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah helped to officially open the facility and having moved to Lambeth as a child, he is acutely aware of the impact it will have on the local area.

“Football was my escape in terms of meeting friends and making friends,” he said. “I actually grew up across the street from here and we didn’t really have these sorts of pitches at that time, until I moved to Gypsy Hill where we had this type of pitch, and that’s how I started to develop my skills.

“For me, most importantly it gives kids a different stimulation. When you’re young it’s very easy to just be indoors and play computer games all day. But if you can come out here, meet your friends and get some exercise, it’s incredible really.”