Football Beyond Borders
Charity 1158046
Overview
Summary
Football Beyond Borders appears to use football not as an end in itself but as a sustained route into educational engagement, pastoral support and transition to adulthood for young people at risk of exclusion. Its distinctive model combines long-term, school-based group work with therapeutic and one-to-one support, suggesting it occupies a bridging role between education, youth work and mental-health-informed practice. The organisation frames trusted adult relationships as a central mechanism of change, alongside academic outcomes.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Oscott
Confidence: medium
Direct evidence shows FBB delivered through Arena Academy during the year ended 31 August 2024. A current FBB recruitment page confirms that Birmingham remains one of its operating locations, but does not identify whether Arena Academy remains a current delivery partner.
- Football Beyond Borders Trustees' Report and Consolidated Financial Statements, year ended 31 August 2024
The report thanks Arena Academy among the schools that helped make FBB's programme achievements possible, evidencing delivery through the school during 2023/24. - Birmingham City Council / Department for Education school record for Arena Academy
Arena Academy is in Oscott ward. - Football Beyond Borders careers website, current School Programme Practitioner vacancy
FBB states that it currently works with students across secondary-school programmes including Birmingham.
Alum Rock
Confidence: medium
Direct evidence shows FBB delivered through Rockwood Academy during the year ended 31 August 2024. Current evidence confirms continuing Birmingham operations generally, but not the current status of this individual school partnership.
- Football Beyond Borders Trustees' Report and Consolidated Financial Statements, year ended 31 August 2024
The report thanks Rockwood Academy among the schools that helped make FBB's programme achievements possible, evidencing delivery through the school during 2023/24. - Birmingham City Council school record for Rockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy is in Alum Rock ward. - Football Beyond Borders careers website, current School Programme Practitioner vacancy
FBB states that it currently works with students across secondary-school programmes including Birmingham.
Soho and Jewellery Quarter
Confidence: medium
Direct evidence shows FBB delivered through Jewellery Quarter Academy during the year ended 31 August 2024. Current evidence supports ongoing Birmingham delivery overall, rather than confirming this specific partnership remains active.
- Football Beyond Borders Trustees' Report and Consolidated Financial Statements, year ended 31 August 2024
The report thanks Jewellery Quarter Academy among the schools that helped make FBB's programme achievements possible, evidencing delivery through the school during 2023/24. - Department for Education, Get Information About Schools: Jewellery Quarter Academy
Jewellery Quarter Academy is an open secondary school in Soho & Jewellery Quarter ward. - Football Beyond Borders careers website, current School Programme Practitioner vacancy
FBB states that it currently works with students across secondary-school programmes including Birmingham.
Remaining uncertainties
- The strongest school-level evidence is for the year ended 31 August 2024. It establishes direct delivery in three Birmingham wards at that time, but FBB does not publish a current Birmingham school-partner list, so continuation at each named school cannot be confirmed.
- FBB's current public materials confirm Birmingham as an operating location but do not state the number, precise locations or ward distribution of its current Birmingham projects.
- No evidence was found of an FBB-owned or permanently staffed physical site in Birmingham. The Birmingham delivery model is school-based.
- Nike's Play Forward partnership was intended to scale to Birmingham, but the available announcement does not identify Birmingham venues, delivery partners or confirmed local programme locations.
Additional evidence needed
- A current FBB list of Birmingham partner schools, projects or programme locations for the 2025/26 or 2026/27 academic year.
- Confirmation from FBB or the named schools of whether delivery partnerships at Arena Academy, Rockwood Academy and Jewellery Quarter Academy are currently active.
- Information on any Birmingham-based FBB staff hub, office, regular community venue or other physical operating base.
- A current local delivery update for the Nike-supported Play Forward programme, including whether it is active in Birmingham and through which schools or community venues.
Areas of work
- Amateur Sport
- Education/training
- Recreation
Who they help
- Children/young People
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Football is an engagement mechanism, not the primary outcome
The available evidence suggests football is used to build participation and relationships with young people who are disengaged from school, while the intended outcomes are educational attainment, school retention and adulthood transitions.
Why it matters
This distinguishes FBB from a conventional sports charity. Its potential collaborators may include schools, alternative-provision providers and pastoral services as much as football organisations.
Show evidence
“FBB works with young people who are passionate about football but disengaged at school.”
Source:Organisation“Its mission is to support young people to finish school with the skills and grades to transition to adulthood.”
Source:Organisation“The charity's objects include advancing education and relieving unemployment.”
Source:Charity Commission
Trusted relationships appear to be the core delivery infrastructure
FBB appears to treat trusted adult relationships as a deliberate intervention rather than a by-product of youth work, supported by practitioners with lived experience and therapeutic training.
Why it matters
This helps explain why its model extends beyond classroom and pitch sessions. Its effectiveness may depend on practitioner continuity, therapeutic capability and credibility within young people's communities.
Show evidence
“Every young person deserves a trusted adult.”
Source:Organisation“The approach is built around long-term trusting relationships between young people and trained practitioners with lived experience.”
Source:Organisation“The programme includes 1-to-1 therapeutic interventions and in-school pastoral support.”
Source:Organisation
The model is designed for early, sustained intervention within mainstream schooling
Beginning in Year 8 and continuing to Year 11 suggests FBB seeks to intervene before exclusion or disengagement becomes irreversible, while remaining embedded in the school environment.
Why it matters
This positions FBB as a prevention-oriented partner for schools, rather than solely a service for young people already outside mainstream education.
Show evidence
“The programme begins in Year 8 and continues through to Year 11.”
Source:Organisation“Sessions combine one hour in the classroom and one hour on the football pitch.”
Source:Organisation“FBB supports young people at risk of exclusion.”
Source:Organisation
- Which communities, regions and types of schools are most represented in the programme.
- Whether reported GCSE outcomes account for differences between FBB participants and comparison groups.
- How FBB works with families, local clubs, mental-health services and post-16 providers.
Remaining uncertainties
- An impact methodology explaining participant selection, comparison groups and longer-term outcomes.
- Information on school partners, referral pathways, geographic coverage and collaborations with other local services.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Football Beyond Borders supports young people who are disengaged at school and passionate about football, in order to help them finish school with the skills and grades to make a successful transition into adulthood.
Charity objects
TO ACT AS A RESOURCE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO THE AGE OF 30 BY PROVIDING ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE AND ORGANISING PROGRAMMES OF PHYSICAL, EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER ACTIVITIES AS A MEANS OF: (A) ADVANCING IN LIFE AND HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BY DEVELOPING THEIR CAPACITY TO BECOME ENGAGED IN PUBLIC LIFE FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THEMSELVES AND SOCIETY AS A WHOLE. (B) ADVANCING EDUCATION. (C) RELIEVING UNEMPLOYMENT. (D) PROVIDING RECREATIONAL AND LEISURE TIME ACTIVITY IN THE INTERESTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND SOCIAL HARMONY FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN THE AREA OF BENEFIT WHO HAVE NEED BY REASON OF THEIR YOUTH, AGE, INFIRMITY OR DISABILITY, POVERTY OR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES WITH A VIEW TO IMPROVING THE CONDITIONS OF LIFE OF SUCH PERSONS.