West Ham United women’s team manager Rehanne Skinner believes The Foundry will provide an inspirational environment for girls and young women.
The Hammers’ award-winning Foundation headquarters in Beckton in the London Borough of Newham was officially opened by Vice-Chair Baroness Karren Brady following a multi-million pound redevelopment this week.
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, including tens of thousands of young females.
Skinner began her own career as a Female Development Officer and Football in the Community Manager at Leicester City, before being promoted to first-team manager and taking on senior roles at Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, with the Wales and England national teams and West Ham United.
With first-hand knowledge and experience of what a football club and its community work can do for its local people, Skinner is confident The Foundry will have a hugely positive impact on east London.
“I think it's quite hard to put into words, actually, how much of an impact and how important it is that these spaces are available,” she told West Ham TV. “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 is happening here 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.
“The Foundry covers a whole breadth of programmes that are so important, from health to social inclusion, to homeless shelters, to walking football, to girls’ programmes, to disability programmes. When you actually think about the diversity of a community, this place, The Foundry, basically covers everything that people would want to be able to access and I think that's huge.
“The power of football has an opportunity to change people's lives, genuinely. I started in a Community scheme at Leicester City and I spent eleven years doing that and seeing it first-hand. It was my first job out in schools and doing all of these different programmes. When you see the impact that has on everybody's lives, it's just a tremendous asset for everybody in the community and it's a great thing for West Ham to do to try and help that community.”
Among the Foundation’s 35 programmes is the Player Pathway, which is delivered in partnership with the women’s team and the Academy of Football.
The Player Pathway provides structured opportunities for young players to develop on and off the pitch, offering boys and girls a pathway from grassroots participation to elite-level performance. Over 250 girls participate in Women’s Youth Team sessions each week, giving young players a genuine route to progress to the professional game.
Skinner believes the programme gives young female footballers inspiration to pursue a career in the game that did not exist a generation ago.
“From the start of the programme, it’s about getting a real love for the game early on, and the more people we can create a passion in to play the game, the more they will filter back into the community to help more people, and we get a really positive cycle going round,” Skinner observed, while watching a session being put on by the WYT’s Under-12 squad.
“Obviously the more players who are playing, the stronger the game is going to be, because as those players filter up and improve, the game gets better English players and we get better players for England, and we keep winning Euros and West Ham keep playing in the Super League and challenging at the top of the game - that’s basically the plan and I think that’s really important.”
Of course, not every girl in east London aspires to be a professional footballer, and Skinner also pointed to the immense value of the other programmes provided at The Foundry in helping young females develop and grow.
The new hub will support thousands of girls 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. It 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.
Skinner concluded: “It just creates opportunities, and that's the thing that we all want to be seen to be doing, whether it's from the women's team creating role models and opportunities for people, or it's coming into places like this where you get an opportunity to delve into some different aspects like business entrepreneurship that you might be able to then go into in your life. That gives you an opportunity to develop a career, and all those things are so important that we provide those opportunities for people.”
