Last year was an incredible 12 months for the Premier League Foundation and the football club charities across England and Wales that we support, thanks to substantial investment from the Premier League.
And as we begin another year of delivery, we are taking a moment to reflect on the people and moments that made it a special 2025 through various programmes and funds.
Premier League Foundation
For the Premier League Foundation, 2025 was certainly a year to remember as we have marked a significant birthday, had a change in name and launched a new look.
We start near the end of the year when it was announced that our name would be changing from the Premier League Charitable Fund to the Premier League Foundation.
The name change, alongside our new 'colour-burst' branding, was revealed at a celebration event in Westminster which marked our 15-year anniversary and reaffirmed the Premier League's commitment to supporting communities.
The event was attended by participants, coaches, teachers and programme leads, who were able to tell charity, sports and political stakeholders how the Premier League Foundation and football club charities have made a positive impact on their lives.
It was an opportunity to celebrate the participants of all ages that have benefitted from the work of the Premier League Foundation over the last 15 years; a figure that stands at more 2.5 million individuals to date.
Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, joined the celebrations having seen the work of the Premier League Foundation through the years as MP for Wigan.
"I just want to say an enormous and very heartfelt thank you from me personally, and from us as a government, for everything that has been achieved over the last 15 years, and everything that you'll continue to do," she said.
The Premier League Foundation went into this new era under new leadership. In September, after 11 years at the organisation in a variety of roles including Interim Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, Alex White was appointed new CEO of the charity.
"I look forward to working with brilliant colleagues and partners to continue to grow the Premier League Foundation's impact, deepen our community engagement and strengthen the charity's position as a global leader in using sport as a force for good," he said.
At the heart of the Foundation's work is supporting and helping participants reach their potential as well as forging closer relationships between supporters and their local football clubs.
This is done through the delivery of three programmes and two funds, on behalf of the Premier League and partners including the Professional Footballers' Association.
Premier League Kicks has worked for 20 years to help create safer and more inclusive communities. Delivered by 93 football club charities, Premier League Kicks has engaged with more than 600,000 participants since in began - young people like Bella from Sheffield United Community Foundation who is inspiring the next generation of female footballers as a volunteer coach and mentor.
Premier League Primary Stars is a primary school education programme and offers 650 free curriculum-linked downloadable resources to help pupils keep active and develop essential life skills. There are 104 football club charities that deliver the programme while more than 20,000 primary schools have taken part to date.
The Premier League Inspires programme allows clubs to engage with students in secondary schools and pupil referral units who are at risk of disengaging with education and not reaching their potential.
Aabid from Burnley FC in the Community is one of more than 40,000 young people who have come through the programme and developed positive attitudes to learning since it began in 2019.
For the last 15 years, the Premier League and Professional Footballers' Association Players' Fund has enabled club charities to deliver projects responding to local need. In doing so they have engaged more than 250,000 participants.
The projects cover a wide range of topics and themes such as men's mental health, walking football and cancer rehabilitation services.
The Premier League Fans Fund helps football club charities connect with their fanbase through unique programmes such as Forever Tigers run by Hull City's Tiger Trust, Walsall FC For All run by Walsall FC Foundation and Chelsea FC Foundation's 'We Are Chelsea' Youth Supporters Group.
Relationships with key stakeholders have been an important part of the Premier League Foundation's work and growth over the last 15 years and we ended the year by announcing a new partnership with Comic Relief.
The partnership, which was launched at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, will put thousands of children and young people aged five-to-18 at the heart of a nationwide campaign for better mental health.
"We know that football - and sport more broadly - can play a pivotal role in supporting mental health and wellbeing, so it only felt natural for us to team up with our long-term partners, the Premier League in this unique way," said Olly Dawson, Comic Relief's Head of Sport for Change and Funding Operations.
Fifteen years of the Premier League Foundation...
£425m+ Premier League grant investment in communities through national programmes and funds
106 professional football club charities supported
Delivery in more than 30,000 schools, stadiums and community facilities
Working with 43 police forces across England and Wales to create more safe places to play
77,600+ teachers engaged to date
6m+ hours of delivery across nearly three million sessions