London’s professional football clubs celebrate the power of collaborative community work with leading health organisations

Millwall Community Trust (MCT) CEO Sean Daly, Football & Sports Development Manager Tim Sells and EDI & Safeguarding Lead Jason Vincent, were amongst 90 people, including football legends Anton Ferdinand and Matt Jarvis, gathered at West Ham United’s London Stadium on Monday 2 September to celebrate and strengthen the relationship between Club Community Organisations (CCOs), the NHS and others such as City Councils.

The event aimed to spark conversation and ignite future partnership opportunities for CCOs to collaborate with service providers to help achieve best possible population health for all across London and beyond.

With guests including Caroline Clarke, Regional Director for the NHS in London and Pedro Delgado, Vice President of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), as well as representatives from city councils, health providers and the 17 London CCOs; discussions looked ahead to future innovation and aspirational prevention to some of society’s most serious health problems.

In a welcoming address, Joe Lyons, Chief Executive of West Ham United Foundation, reflected on his own Foundation’s partnership with the NHS which began in 2015 with a programme aimed at tackling high rates of Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Joe reflected that the Foundation’s work addressing health needs in east London has evolved enormously since then. 

With London United’s cohort spanning the breadth of London, collaboration with health providers has now progressed across a range of programmes including the likes of the Advantage Mentoring scheme which piloted in North East London through West Ham United, Arsenal and Leyton Orient – supporting the mental health of young people. 

At the core of the event football and sport were the hook to bring the guests together, and a friendly 9-a-side football match followed at the nearby Bobby Moore Academy. In a closely contested match the Health United team managed by Anton Ferdinand came out on top with a 5-4 victory against Matt Jarvis’ London United. 

Whilst post-match discussions reflected on the action on the pitch, thoughtful conversations and optimism for future relationships remained at the core of the day.

Joe Lyons, Chief Executive of West Ham United Foundation, said: “Our connections with colleagues today within the NHS only continue to strengthen. Coming together as a collaborative network, building greater relationships and growing a trusted partnership takes time and energy – something we saw in abundance throughout the event. The job is to now focus on core programming and impactful preventative provisions that really work – we will now look forward to develop new, innovative and aspirational prevention solutions to some of society’s most serious health problems – London United and London NHS is a true collaboration.”

Pedro Delgado, Vice President of Institute for Healthcare Improvement, said: “The match between London United and Health United was testament to the potential of football to build bridges across individuals and organisations in service of best possible health for all. Improving population health with and for communities will take an ever increasing set of active stakeholders collaborating to co-create innovative solutions, and to continuously learn, iterate and improve over time. We’re excited about what’s ahead!” 

The professional football club Community Organisations that form London United are: Arsenal F.C., Barnet F.C., Brentford F.C., Bromley F.C., Charlton Athletic F.C., Chelsea F.C., Crystal Palace F.C., Dagenham and Redbridge F.C., Fulham F.C., Leyton Orient F.C., Millwall F.C., Queens Park Rangers F.C., Sutton United F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Watford F.C., West Ham United F.C., and AFC Wimbledon.

Freddie Hudson, Chair of London United and Head of Arsenal in the Community, said: “London United clubs have worked in partnership for over 10 years to support communities across our city. The collaboration with the NHS during that time has been essential in driving better health outcomes through our projects, and we’re excited about deepening this relationship."

To find out more about London United, visit: https://londonunited.org.uk/