West Ham United Foundation’s recently opened hub in the heart of east London, The Foundry, is helping people with physical and mental health challenges to get active, meet new friends and feel part of their community.
Foundation Health Manager Hervé Bessières and his team of staff and volunteers work in partnership with a host of charities and organisations to provide a range of sessions and support to people with physical health restrictions and mental health issues.
Each week, the Foundation hosts walking football and walking basketball sessions to engage people in low intensity sporting activities, exercise and education programmes for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the 150Club Focus Health, a first-of-its-kind programme supporting Newham residents living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The opening of The Foundry provides the Foundation with facilities - including health and wellbeing spaces, an outdoor gym and full-size all-weather pitch - to host all these enriching and beneficial programmes and more in the weeks, months and years to come.
Leading them is Bessières, an experienced public health programme manager who has been with the Foundation since 2022.
“As the Health Manager for the Foundation, I’m mainly leading on adult services looking at long-term health conditions,” he explained. “With Active United, we’ve got four walking football sessions and one walking basketball session per week, and they are really an opportunity for people to engage in low-intensity physical activity. We’ve got people with physical restrictions or mental health difficulties, and these sessions are welcoming everyone of any ability, any background, to take part in some sporting activities.
“All the sessions are run with our volunteers, who are doing an amazing job to welcome everyone who is coming to the sessions. In terms of mental health, it’s very important, because physical activity is the one thing that is going to have a beneficial impact on mental health straight away.
“It is true that Newham is one of the least active boroughs in the UK, and having such an amazing facility in this area with accessible activities is really promoting health and wellbeing in the community. People are welcome to attend as many sessions as they want to in our programmes.”
In November, the Foundation will launch a new programme, Play for Tomorrow football sessions, as part of the Premier League’s Inside Matters mental health campaign.
“As part of our work, we’re now expanding to a new activity from 14 November called Play for Tomorrow, which is a football activity specifically designed in suicide prevention supported by the Premier League,” Bessières confirmed.