"Facilitating our next generation, inspiring the better version of you in the next generation and giving back to our communities is so important."
Robert Burns, Premier League club coach, Newcastle United
At the end of last year, the Premier League hosted a special event in Mumbai to showcase how we are developing the skills of grassroots and community coaches across the globe.
The Premier League Community Coach Development Programme event, delivered in partnership with the British Council, involved Premier League, Brentford and Newcastle United coaches provide expert training to 27 community coaches that had travelled to the Cooperage Football Ground in Mumbai from across India.
In turn, those community coaches were able to put the skills and techniques they had learnt into practice as they led sessions with 80 young footballers from the OSCAR Foundation, an organisation that empowers underserved children through football and education.
Former Liverpool and Newcastle United striker Michael Owen joined Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in seeing how these events inspire and give confidence to grassroots coaches to have an impact in their own communities.
"It's commendable that the Premier League invests back into grassroots and back into different communities and countries," Owen said. "Hopefully in the years to come, these countries and these communities will see the benefits.
"Of course it's great that everybody has fun playing football but you really want younger children to understand the game, to get a passion for the game and to take that through their lives."
This latest event builds on the Premier League's longstanding relationship with India, which has helped develop and grow the game there since 2007. All the coaches taking part had already been a part of the Premier League's community work in the country.
"It's always a great experience to come back to the Premier League and attend the courses," said community coach Tanaz Mohammad. "It's like a new beginning for us, to learn new things, to interact with coach educators and the coaches who come from the Premier League to India.
"It's a great platform for us to share knowledge and to share our ideas with them, get understanding and knowledge from them and just explore the game with a different perspective."
The three-day course allowed the community coaches to learn about topics such as creating fun and educational sessions, creating a safe and inclusive coaching atmosphere as well as how to give and receive feedback from the players.
It was not only a learning opportunity for the coaches from India as the Premier League club coaches were also able to pick up skills that they can use in their day-to-day work.
Shaun Preddie was one the coaches invited to Mumbai. As a teenager he was a participant on the Premier League Kicks programme and has progressed to being a full-time community coach for Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, supporting thousands of young people in west London.
"To have the chance to represent Brentford and showcase the great work that we do in the UK to communities abroad was a real honour," he told the club's official website. "It has made me a better coach. Especially working with experienced coaches from the Premier League, they've worked at a high level, and I was happy to be a sponge for their knowledge all week.
"The experience was incredibly enriching. It provided me with practical ideas and fresh perspectives that I'm excited to bring back and apply to my role at the Trust.
"By supporting access to football internationally, we're helping to nurture young peoples' potential and contribute to the growth of them and their community. Brentford is growing too, and our influence as a Premier League club is huge. We’re using this to make a positive difference, and it’s great to see children in Mumbai wearing a Brentford shirt!"
The Premier League and British Council have worked together for nearly 20 years to train more than 41,000 football coaches, referees and educators, benefitting more than 2.2 million children and young people across 29 countries.