Growing up on the outskirts of the capital, Carlton Cole knows just how much potential the new Foundry has to uplift people of all ages across east London.
The Hammers cult hero was joined by fellow ambassadors, men’s head coach Nuno Espírito Santo, women’s head coach Rehanne Skinner, community leaders, programme leads from the Foundation’s 35+ community initiatives and their participants for the official opening of The Foundry, the Club’s new multi-million-pound community hub in the heart of east London.
The state-of-the-art facility will reach more than 60,000 people every year through its dedicated programmes, generating an estimated £75 million of social value in its first five years.
Former striker Cole, a regular visitor to the Foundation, said: “You've got to understand, I've seen the blood, sweat and tears put in by Joseph Lyons [West Ham United Foundation CEO] and his team and they've been really hands-on to try and get funded to get to this level where we're at now.
“Having a hub like this for the community is so important. Having somewhere to go to, especially if there's dark times, if there's a place where you can come and unite and I think that’s what this has done for the community and I'm just proud to be a part of it.
“It's brought people together already. You've got people from the offices in Canary Wharf involved; you've got the people from the estates locally. They're all coming together in unison to go into one place and be heard as one.
“That's why I love being connected to the Foundation, because there's nothing better than serving the people of the community that live around the area. It's not just about east London, it's about setting an example to the rest of the football clubs and making sure that the community comes first.”
A section of the Foundation’s work with young people focuses on knife crime prevention. Its youth mentors, many of whom grew up in the same neighbourhoods surrounding the Club, are well placed to engage with and understand the challenges facing young people in east London. This includes partnerships with local organisations such as Be Heard as One, which Cole himself also represents.
The communities in which the West Ham United Foundation operates record some of the highest incidents of knife crime in the country. The Foundation, along with Be Heard as One, provide young people with safe spaces and long-term support that encourages positive choices and independence, helping reduce their exposure to youth criminality that remains prevalent in inner-city areas.
Cole continued: “Be Heard As One is a massive component to this as well because obviously we're trying to fight knife crime. We know what's going on in the streets with some of the youth nowadays and they need to be educated on the effects of how many lives it ruins.
“Also we do have mental health [provision] here as well, mental health help that you can get with Ripple [Suicide Prevention], so we've got loads of avenues and different things.
“We support young people, we've got old people that we can support as well and they're all West Ham. You don't have to be West Ham, but we still support you anyway!
“It just shows you that we've got different generations [we can support] and make sure that this place is successful and it is going to be successful because it's really needed in this East London.
“I look at this whole thing and this whole project as a testament to what West Ham brings. It brings culture, it brings love, peace and harmony into one building and this is what the hub represents for me, so I'm really happy that I'm here representing the Club. I'm a proud ambassador of the Club and the Foundation. The Foundry is the start of it, there's more to come.”
“West Ham gave me a massive opportunity to come in as a coach when I was first starting off my coaching career and I've done all my education whilst being here as a coach. Now I've got a UEFA A licence. Now I'm the Loans Manager, so the Club has helped me get to the next level of my coaching career at the capacity that I want to work in football, so that just shows you what this Club can do for anybody, whether it be with the Foundation, whether it's the coaches here that need help, whether it's the kids that need help, whether it's the elders that need help… Everybody can get an opportunity at this Club, and this is a great place to start.”
Cole's West Ham career spanned almost nine years, during which he made 293 appearances in Claret and Blue and scored 68 goals in all competitions. Having joined the Club at 22 in the summer of 2006, he remains a much-loved figure at the Club, now serving as Loans Manager and Foundation ambassador.
“What’s kept me at this Club is the community,” he said. “I think I'm appreciated in the community over in east London and I felt the love. It was my birthday the other day and I felt the love coming from everywhere and it's funny because I was born in south London, raised in west London but spent my adulthood in east London, so it's nice to know that I'm appreciated in east London as much as I am.
“This is the whole thing with a place like this because obviously in south London there's not many of these things around. I think we're leading now with this environment. What we're doing here, with the people that are involved, all across east London, everyone's mucking in and that's what we need. This is community progress to get to the next level as a community.
“For me [it’s] the kids that says it all. When you go over to the kids and they've got a smile on their face and they just love being here, that's where it is.
“I was singing with the Any Old Irons and they were unbelievable. They love embracing us as ex-pros, as current players so it just shows you what this place does, it just brings everything together. I'm not comparing ourselves to any other club but I think we do it the best!”
