West Ham United has officially opened The Foundry, the Club’s award-winning Foundation headquarters in Beckton in the London Borough of Newham.
Vice-Chair Baroness Karren Brady proudly cut the ribbon to formally declare open the multi-million proud transformational community hub.
The newly developed Foundation headquarters, The Foundry will significantly increase the Club’s community footprint, enabling West Ham to reach more than 60,000 people each year via 35 dedicated programmes catering for all ages and backgrounds. The new community hub will deliver £75 million in social value in its first five years of operation.
Baroness Brady, joined by Foundation CEO Joseph Lyons, addressed the 100-plus invited guests, including MPs, political leaders, community partners, representatives from the football world and Club ambassadors.
Men’s Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo and Women’s team manager Rehanne Skinner were on hand to take in The Foundry for the first time and learn more about the Foundation’s life-changing work. Men’s player Tomáš Souček, whose daughter attends sessions at hub, was delighted to attend to mark the momentous occasion.
Guests were given a tour of the new hub, which will support up to 4,000 community participants of all ages each week across education, employment, physical and mental health and social inclusion programmes and a brand-new enterprise zone, inspiring future business leaders. The Foundry also includes health and wellbeing spaces, an outdoor gym and a welcoming kitchen and café, profits from which will go towards providing free meals for those in need – ensuring the Club’s legacy continues to be felt far beyond matchdays. This in addition to the Club’s programmes which extend across east London, Essex and internationally.
Core Partners of the project were proudly on hand to celebrate the moment. They include The Football Foundation, City Bridge Foundation, Trust for London and Charity Bank. Additionally, West Ham United Foundation’s proud Zone Sponsors and Funders were on hand to celebrate the Foundry opening, including The London Marathon Foundation, The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, our dedicated supporters and lifelong West Ham United fans Anne Graham and Stephen Scobie, along with the Foundation’s network of Founding Patrons.
Several of the flagship programmes set to benefit from the multi-million-pound redevelopment of The Foundry were showcased throughout the day. These included Healthier Happier Me - a collaborative initiative with the NHS designed to improve children's nutrition and physical activity in response to rising childhood obesity rates. Also featured were football and education programmes developed in partnership with the Premier League and the PFA, which use the power of football to engage young people in learning. Enterprise projects aimed at fostering personal development were also highlighted, alongside the Foundation’s Any Old Irons initiative, which promotes social inclusion and community connection across elderly West Ham supporters.
During the event, Baroness Brady proudly announced the launch of the West Ham United Night Shelter, which will see The Foundry provide a hot meal and a safe place to sleep every Saturday night, extending to nightly offering for a week during the Christmas period.
The all-encompassing day highlighted the Foundation vision to ‘harness the power of football to maximise life chances and inspire better futures for all’. The West Ham United Foundation has been supporting local charities, good causes and social support programmes for 30 years now, today's landmark opening will help take that to the next level.
The name ‘The Foundry’ pays tribute to the Club’s proud origins as Thames Ironworks FC, a team founded in 1895 by workers at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. The company, based on the Limmo Peninsula in Canning Town, was one of the most important and innovative shipbuilders of the 19th century, forging vessels for the Royal Navy and pioneering engineering of its time. Just as those ironworkers built ships that travelled the world, they also laid the foundations for a football club rooted in hard work, unity, and community spirit.
Speaking shortly after cutting the ribbon, West Ham United Vice-Chair Baroness Brady said: “The Foundry represents exactly what we are – a community. A community that helps one another, supports one another and inspires one another.
“And what happens here really is just the tip of the iceberg – the impact of our community outreach work can be felt right across the capital and beyond – ensuring 60,000 individuals will benefit from our support each year.
“The Foundry is an inspirational environment, a triumph of innovation, dedication, and grit – all the values that West Ham United prides itself on.
“When we moved to our stadium, almost ten years ago, we doubled down on our long-held commitment to serve our community and help fulfil London’s Olympic Legacy, across the capital and beyond – a genuine determination to tackle and solve the major problems impacting the people of London, and to illustrate exactly how a Premier League football club like West Ham United can be such a powerful force for good.”
West Ham United Foundation CEO Joseph Lyons added:“We’re proud to officially open The Foundry, our new community hub that brings to life our mission: to create lasting opportunities for all, grounded in trust, purpose and community. This space is more than a building; it is a catalyst for real and meaningful change, where lives across East London and beyond can be empowered and transformed.
“None of this would have been possible without the vision and commitment of our Club Board, and the steadfast support of our sponsors and funders – the Football Foundation, Charity Bank, Trust for London, City Bridge Foundation – alongside our valued network of partners and patrons.
“Looking ahead, our ambition is clear: to grow further, broaden our reach and deepen our impact, ensuring The Foundry becomes a beacon of opportunity for generations to come.”
Men’s Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo commented: “I’m really honoured to be here. I recently joined the Club and being invited to this event makes me really proud. We always have time for this kind of things and I’m really proud, I’m really proud and I’m honoured to be part of a Club with these values to try to help the community because it’s one of the things that I really believe that we should be all together, no matter where you come from, so I’m glad and happy to be here.”
Women’s Manager Rehanne Skinner added: “It’s quite hard to put into words, actually, how much of an impact and how important it is that these spaces are available. I think the amount of things that the Foundation actually reaches across the community is just so vast. When you're reaching out to over 60,000 people a year, that just tells you everything that needs to happen within a Club across a whole spectrum of different activities. Just having this base here, it's a fantastic building. I think everybody's done such a good job of making it work for what the community needs are as well and it's just a fantastic asset for the football club to have.”
Men’s team midfielder Tomáš Souček said: “It's really good to be here, because I've been with West Ham for six years, I know this place a lot, but now it's even more impressive. It’s unbelievable how they changed the building. I'm as happy as possible for the Foundation, for the work they do, so I'm just proud to be here today.”
“We as players, we play for the fans and everyone sees that, but this type of work, it's something not many people see, not many people celebrate, but me personally, I put so much respect on everyone, because this is the project we should celebrate, because this is something we do for the people, this is something special.”
Kiara Tuitt, a 20-year-old who participates in the Training Ground+, an employability programme engaging young people aged 18 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training in football, education and employability, said: “I've gained a lot [from this programme]. Most important, I feel like I've gained a family. The friends that I've made, they've helped me grow as a person in all aspects of my life.
“They've pushed me to take part in so many different things outside of football, outside of the Foundation as well. I feel like we've all taken each other and elevated each other as well.
“I feel like I believe in my abilities a lot more as well. A lot of opportunities to build in my confidence and believing that I can do and I can achieve things.”
Club Ambassador Anton Ferdinand said: “It’s fantastic, I feel really privileged to be part of this today. As someone who has been part of the Club as player, a fan and now an ambassador, I started from the age of nine and the Club were at the heart of its community, so its amazing to see them able to do this on a wider scale. To have a place where all people, of all ages in east London can feel safe is something communities need and that is exactly what The Foundry is going to do”
Premier League CEO Richard Masters added: “West Ham United Foundation positively impact their community throughout the year and are an example of the excellent work carried out by club charities across the country.
“Facilities such as The Foundry show the value professional football clubs create by investing in their local areas, developing state-of-the-art infrastructure, and providing tens of thousands of jobs.
“The Premier League and our clubs are committed to supporting the wider game and communities, contributing £1.6 billion over the past three years.”
To find out more about the West Ham United Foundation, click HERE.