Community Catch Up: April
Welcome to Sheffield United Community Foundation’s monthly review!
Find out what’s been happening at the Foundation and what we’ve got coming up!
Parkwood Students Shine in Premier League Inspires Challenge
Young people from Sheffield United Community Foundation have joined hundreds across England and Wales in this year’s Premier League Inspires Challenge, a nationwide initiative supported by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) that uses football to empower 11–18-year-olds through life skills, mentoring, and social action.
The Challenge is one element of the Premier League Inspires programme, which clubs run on a weekly basis to support 11–18-year-olds who may be at risk of not reaching their potential as they move through the education system and into early adulthood.
This season, young people have been tasked with tackling gender inequality in their communities. Sheffield United Community Foundation representatives came together to share their project ideas at Bramall Lane, Dragon’s Den style in front of a panel of judges. The winning team developed a project to tackle issues around Gender Equality. The winning team from Parkwood E-Act Academy decided to launch a podcast that addressed the issues around gender equality and promoted positive conversations around the important topic.
Read more here.
Community College Update
Our men’s elite team were crowned NFYL North West Championship 2 champions! The boys secured promotion with an emphatic 9-3 victory over Farsley Celtic (highlights on Twitter here).
Our football teams will also be in action at next week’s Sheffield Varsity, (Friday 9th May) as students from Sheffield United Community College and Sheffield Wednesday Community College will do battle in multi-sport events at Bramall Lane and EIS Sheffield. Students will face off in esports, basketball, futsal, badminton, handball, dodgeball and various track & field events before finishing with women’s and men’s football matches at Handsworth JSC. Follow our Instagram for updates on the day!
Finally, just three days later (Monday 12th May) our men’s elite team travel to QPR’s Loftus Road to take on Bolton Wanderers in the NFYL Cup Final. Best of luck lads, do us proud!
Mock Interview Day at The Youth Hub!
This month, we welcomed Sean Clarke from Business Sheffield, who brought his wealth of experience in Higher Education and retail to support young people preparing for the world of work. From digital marketing to catering and hospitality, our young participants had diverse career goals — and thanks to Sean’s tailored feedback, each left with a clearer path forward and boosted confidence.
Sean was full of praise for the personal skills and professionalism shown by every candidate. He wished them all the best in their journeys toward employment and training. Upcoming sessions feature experts from the NHS, design, and engineering — all happening at Bramall Lane in the coming weeks. For more information please contact Mike Exton at mike.exton@sufc-community.co.uk.
More Football Camps!
Thanks to everyone who came down to our Easter Football Camps! We had a great time and can’t wait for our upcoming Spring Bank Camps at Handsworth JSC, Wisewood Sports Centre and our Leisure United sites (Graves, Thorncliffe & Westfield)!
Camps take place Tuesday 27th – Friday 30th May (Tue-Thu for our Girls exclusive camps at Graves and Westfield), 9am-3pm. These fun sessions are delivered by qualified coaches and targeted at 5-14 year-olds.
Book your child’s place here.
Football Shirt Friday
We were proud to celebrate Football Shirt Friday in support of the Bobby Moore Fund!
Community College staff and students donned their favourite shirts to help raise awareness and funds for lifesaving bowel cancer research. Well done to all who took part!
⚔️ We were immensely proud of our mixed team and girls team (runners-up) who represented us at the Premier League Kicks Cup regional qualifiers in Bradford earlier this month! We’d like to give thanks to Bradford City for hosting a brilliant day that saw over 200 young players take part in games and in community workshops and also included a visit from the Premier League trophy!
⚔️ The Community Blades Podcast is back! Check out episodes 1 and 2 featuring our new host, Millie, here.
⚔️ Four weeks to go until the Rainbow Blades 5th Birthday Ball! Join us at the Hilton Hotel at Bramall Lane on Thursday 29th May for a night of celebration, entertainment, awards, and more! Be part of the celebration. Use promo code TWENTYFIVE for group discount. Book your place here.