Ashley King, Senior Social Inclusion Coordinator for Arsenal in the Community, has been named our 2025/26 Community Captain!
Christian Norgaard came down to wish him congratulations too at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Ashley joined us in 2019, initially as a Social Inclusion Officer leading on our Premier League Kicks programme in Hackney.
Working in some of the most challenging parts of the borough, Ashley made a significant impact on the lives of the young people he engaged with, particularly on the Woodberry Down Estate and Evelyn Court.
Over the past six years, Ashley has grown into the role of Senior Coordinator for Social Inclusion and now oversees the PL Kicks programme in Islington, Hackney and Camden.
Along with the impact that Ashley has made, the way that he has approached his work is very much the Arsenal way. He’s a committed team player and is always happy to support others.
Arsenal in the Community became one of the first clubs to deliver PL Kicks when it started in 2006. Since then, we have delivered weekly free football sessions for young people, outside of school hours, in Islington, Hackney and Camden.
The sessions typically take place on small sided astro turf pitches on local parks or housing estates. All locations have been identified by the police or local authority as being in need of positive provision. We engage approximately 1500 young people per year through PL Kicks. For many of our participants the programme forms an important part of their weekly routine and provides a safe space for them to enjoy themselves and meet new people.
Although football is the tool that we use to engage young people in the programme, we aim to secure outcomes which will benefit the participants’ personal development and the wider community. The staff build trusting relationships with the participants through youth work approaches, mentor them and guide them through regular contact time, in some cases over several years.
We provide them with opportunities that support them to achieve their potential whether that be through access to education, employment or navigating challenges that they are experiencing during their teenage years.
Ashley is a skilled youth worker and mentor. Before joining Arsenal he worked in an alternative education setting so had a good understanding about the young people who we aim to engage with on PL Kicks. Ashley oversees a team of Casual Community Coaches, many of whom are former participants themselves and have been supported through the coaching badges and guided through valuable learning experiences to become paid members of our Community team.
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