October 2022 Club of the Month

For our October Club of the Month award, we travelled to Selhurst Park to see how Palace for Life Foundation are changing the lives of young South Londoners.

As the official charity of Crystal Palace FC, Palace for Life Foundation have been supporting people of all ages living with a disability for the last 25 years. The vast range of initiatives and opportunities on offer include the delivery of Down's Syndrome, powerchair, vision impairment and mental health football sessions. Available weekly and monthly, these sessions run from a variety of venues in the wider Croydon area and aim to help participants improve motor skills and physical fitness, as well as building their self-esteem and providing opportunities to interact with new friends and the wider community all through disability sport.

When we met staff during our Every Body Moves filming day, it was clear to see their genuine passion and enthusiasm for the sport, inclusion and the positive benefits it can bring on all levels to people with a range of disabilities. 

That focus on inclusion runs throughout all of the Palace for Life Foundation activities, which includes powerchair football, one of the only forms of football where male and female participants can play together.

Palace for Life Foundation's Disability Manager, Michael Harrington, was recognised for his continuous hard work and efforts in supporting disabled members of the community in 2021 with a Disability Champion award via the Level Playing Field campaign. When speaking about the range of amazing opportunities available, he told us:

"We run a variety of pan-disability teams and mental health football teams, where it's just all around using the power of [Crystal] Palace and the power of sport to support people trying to make a breakthrough in their life.

"Football is just a really great way of bringing people together. With things going difficult, times are tough, get out on the football field and while you're playing the world just seems a different place. And that'll be the same again for anybody... to just be able to enjoy the benefits of physical activity, the social activity, the interaction, all that stuff you get. Why shouldn't everyone have the chance?"

The adult mental health team is run in partnership between the Caridon Foundation and Palace for Life Foundation, offering their tenants a way to keep fit, while socialising and engaging. One of the participants and team captain, Smooth, spoke to us about his experiences: "I have anxiety and depression, these are things I suffer with and this is why I come here. It's an important part for us to support each other, as well as the programme to support us. This has just made me a better person and improved my mental health to the highest."

Palace for Life Foundation's Down's Syndrome team, the DS Eagles, train weekly at Monks Hill Sports Centre. When we spoke to Anita, a parent of one of the participants with the DS Eagles team, about the wider benefits of her son's participation, she told us:

"It's like winning the lottery every week he comes. He just loves playing football, that's his passion. I wouldn't try and find any other group to go to, the Palace for Life Foundation have been a great support to us, with everyone and the family... it's been a real change in our lives."

Ben Perryman, Disability Inclusion Officer at Palace for Life Foundation, added to that senitment: "I think the parents just see... the fact that they're not lonely anymore, the social part of it is the main key for a lot of the families. So I think it just shows the growth within the child and beyond"

You can check out the full range of amazing disability focused football session available with Palace for Life Foundation here.