Events

Wednesday 13^th November 2024

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon over forty girls aged 12 – 14 years old took part in an inter-school Tag Rugby Tournament hosted by the Jason Roberts Foundation (JRF) in collaboration with the Serge Betsen Academy.

The London EmpowerHer event was a brilliant example of how rugby joins communities.

The girls’ Rugby project delivered by JRF and funded by England Rugby and the Mayor of London merges participation in local schools and community centres and incorporates Tag Rugby coaching and personal development through the Skills builder programme.

The London EmpowerHer project is going from strength to strength as the interest and participation in tag rugby grows.

The schools which included Twyford School and Alperton Community School competed in a three-way tournament incorporating a master class and Q&A with former French and Wasps legend Serge Betsen. The girls asked some inspired questions, and the session could have gone on well into the evening.

Serge and his coaches from the Academy assisted JRF’s rugby coach Wilbert, who all provided the competitors with tips and encouragement on how to make an impact in a match situation.

Each school received a trophy for participating in the tournament and returned home empowered by the news skills they learnt by competing in a sport that is in great need of a boost.

If you’d like to know more about the London EmpowerHer Rugby project, contact info@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

For more information about the Serge Betsen Academy visit https://www.sergebetsenacademy.org/

Sunday 20th October 2024

The Arthur Wharton statue made its first appearance in Brent on Sunday when local youths played for the Arthur Wharton trophy at Bridgestone Arena, home of the Jason Roberts Foundation (JRF).

Over ninety players and spectators took part in a tournament of football, cricket, and athletics to commemorate a sporting pioneer.

Arthur Wharton was born in Ghana in 1865. In 1883, he moved to Darlington, England where he began his amazing sporting career.

Arthur became the first Black professional footballer, the first official fastest man, a professional cricketer, and a rugby player.

Specially made bibs were worn by each team which marked the club and the heritage to which Arthur was associated with Rotherham, Darlington, Ghana his place of birth and Grenada where is father was born.

Founder Shaun Campbell of the Arthur Wharton Foundation travelled from the northeast and was on hand to inspire, educate, and connect with the local players and community. A short film and Q&A session followed after the main presentation to the winning team of the football tournament and an award for the fastest youth on the day was over.

To add to the impressive list of local players displayed at the Bridgestone Arena, the Hyde owned community centre a stone’s throw away from the iconic Wembley Stadium, JRF unveiled a large panel featuring Arthur Wharton for current and future generations to remember his contribution to sport.

Otis Roberts, CEO said “I’ve known Shaun for a number of years and haven’t seen him for a while but now I’ve met with him twice in a week. It’s an honour to have him in Brent educating the youth about Arthur and it’s only fitting that JRF recognise the great work that is being done by Shaun and his organisation to raise awareness of Arthur’s feats.”

Shaun Campbell said “It was a real honour and a privilege to see Arthur Wharton remembered and commemorated at the Bridgestone Arena, by the Jason Roberts Foundation. The occasion also marked the 10th Anniversary of the unveiling of the now iconic statue of Arthur Wharton at the National Football Centre, St George’s Park, Burton upon Trent, home of the FA.

The JRF were exceptional hosts who marked the occasion with the unveiling of a poignant mural of Arthur, placed on their wall of honour that celebrates local heroes such as Raheem Stirling, Ricky hill, Rachel Yankey and Jason Roberts, among others.

The Arthur Wharton Foundation thanks the JRF for a truly wonderful day of celebrations that saw the local youth turn out in numbers to make the day special.

Special thanks to Otis Roberts, who has been a friend and supporter of the Arthur Wharton Foundation for some twelve years. Thanks also to the entire team at the JRF who showed exceptional kindness and commitment on the day, something that we will never forget, and will always be grateful for.”

For more information about the Arthur Wharton Foundation visit https://arthurwhartonfoundation.org/

Monday 14^th October 2024

After a busy few days JRF were on the road again, this time at Westminster College as part of the ‘Legends Series’ in association with the Professional Footballers Association and the United Colleges, the ongoing series is supported by Hyde Charitable Trust as part of the ‘JRF in the Community’ three-year project, and Wembley National Stadium Trust (WNST).

A packed Sarah Siddons theatre was home to an evening with footballing hero Andy Cole. The evening got off to a great start with compelling stories, words of inspiration, and a fantastic interaction between students, faculty and members of the public.

Questions came in all forms and JRF host Mike Adams and media apprentice Marley Stein held together what was an inspirational talk from one of the most decorated players in the history of the Premier League.

Young people were at the heart of the event with the student union managing proceedings and they enjoyed a fantastic opportunity post event to spend time with the former Manchester United legend.

With future volunteering and collaboration on the horizon the JRF team were pleased with the outcome of the latest series.

JRF Media Apprentice, Marley Stein commented;

“It was an incredible experience as I got to interview the legendary Andy Cole at the City of Westminster College! It was an honour to hear his insights on football, his career, and his journey. A huge thank you to the Jason Roberts Foundation especially Otis and Mike for providing this amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a media apprentice. Stay tuned for more exciting content!”

Sunday 8^th September 2024

On Sunday 8^th September JRF hosted a Female Sports Festival as part of their ‘Empower to Achieve’ Heritage project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, tracing the Ancestry of Women in Sport of Caribbean, Indian, and Somali Heritage.

Over 70 girls and young women turned up to the all-day event to enjoy a range of sports activities, led by the four women of Heritage the project is focussed on, Lorna Falconer – Head of Football Operations at Brentford Football Club, Connie Henry, MBE – founder of charity Track Academy, creator of the Sports Give Back Awards, and former international triple jumper; Jawahir ‘JJ’ Roble, MBE – British Football Referee, and Celeste Stevens, Head of Safeguarding & Academy Player Welfare at Reading Football Club.

The FA Coach Development Team came in full force with Sharon Muxworthy leading the way alongside Middlesex FA’s Kate Wells who looks after the development of Women’s football in the county.

In addition to sports activities there were DJ workshops, career pathways advice from local Football Business University, UCFB Wembley for those thinking of entering the sports industry.

One of JRF’s newest partners, Nuffield Health were also on hand to offer health checks and advice on health and wellbeing.

Later in the day the sport and heritage champions, Lorna, Connie, JJ and Celeste took part in a Memory Café which involved a 45-minute interactive Q&A session. The ladies took some fantastic questions from the floor and were joined by surprise guest, Eartha Pond one of JRF’s ‘Inspire 2 Achieve’ Heritage Mentors.

Young participants on the day had the opportunity to sign up to become Heritage Ambassadors as part of the ‘Empower to Achieve’ project where they will have a chance to take part in curation, events, media, film making, presenting, interviews, and research.

Otis Roberts, CEO of the Foundation said; “What a brilliant day and fantastic turnout not only by the girls and young women, but the integration of their families was wonderful to see. Our ‘Empower to Achieve’ programme is going from strength to strength and the interaction and positive influence on those involved is clear to see.

The hope is to have a session like this each month, so we don’t lose the connection between heritage, sport, culture, health and well-being, and opportunity.”

Note:

If you are interested in taking part in the ‘Empower to Achieve’ programme, please contact martene@jasonrobertsfoundation.org  

On Thursday 29^th August JRF continued their ‘Legends Series’ which is supported by Hyde Charitable Trust as part of the ‘JRF in the Community’ three-year project, and Wembley National Stadium Trust (WNST), and this month they were joined by local Brent born, Chris Munro the man behind the sound of over 130 movies that have hit the big screen over two decades,

Music man Chris, who has worked with Directors such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and Ron Howard, returned to his roots for an evening at Harlesden Library.

The Oscar award winning former Cardinal Hinsley pupil reflected on his early days and the journey from Harlesden to Hollywood for the local audience.

He has worked on five James Bond Films including ‘Casino Royale’ which he considers to be Daniel Craig’s best Bond film, and three ‘Mission Impossible’ films where he demonstrated how they manage to capture Tom Cruise’s voice over the action sounds including the helicopter.

His last film ‘Bob Marley’ was spoken about, and timing was apt as there is currently a Reggae exhibition at the library until October.

One of the younger members of the audience took to the stage and asked the man of the moment how long it took for him to accomplish his dreams. Chris answered that he still has dreams, and he thinks it’s really important that we all have dreams.

He went on to say; “There’s always got to be another dream, and the most important thing is to be the best at each stage of that dream. So, when you feel you are the best at what you are doing, move on to another goal.”

Prior to travelling to the library, Chris took in a tour of the local area, including a visit to his former home reminiscing on the changes he has seen over the years.

His former classmates were also on attendance and found out a lot more about their good friend and how he became a leading figure in sound production.

After the event Chris took time out to give valuable advice about a future career in the industry to one of JRF’s volunteers and media trainee Marley.

On Monday 26^th August Bakkavor Meals London were back at Bridgestone Arena for their 4^th Annual Cricket Event in aid of the Jason Roberts Foundation. Over the last three years Bakkavor has raised an amazing £20,000 to support the work of the charity.

The ever-popular Cricket Tournament was followed by a football match, a competitive but fun tug-of-war, and multiple other games, which all helped to add to the joyous family occasion filled with laughter, competition, and community.

The raffle which is held each year towards the end of the day of sport, saw fantastic prizes won with gasps of excitement all round and the scenes when the cricket and football trophies were handed out deserved a bigger stage.

JRF staff and volunteers were on hand to support the occasion and soak up the atmosphere.

The JRF team and Trustees extend thanks to the social value award winning Bakkavor Meals London for their continued support and assistance throughout the years and look forward to many more collaborative initiatives.

Otis Roberts, CEO of JRF commented; “What a wonderful day! It was great to see a company and staff teams all come out on Bank Holiday and pull together for a common goal. Working with Bakkavor is an absolute pleasure as always and we continue to see the annual event go from strength to strength.”

More information:

If you are a Company that would like to raise funds to support the work of JRF by hosting an event at Bridgestone Arena please contact CEO Otis Roberts on otis@jasonrobertsfoundation.org or Business Development Manager Martene Carroll on martene@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

About Bakkavor Meals:

We are the leading provider of fresh prepared food (“FPF”) and put the customer at the heart of what we do.
c.18,000 colleagues operate from 43 sites to develop and produce innovative FPF for a wide variety of occasions and budgets.
Our customers include all the well-known UK grocery retailers as well as some of the world’s best-known international food brands.
Our deep understanding of consumers’ changing needs enables us to create innovative products for our customers around the world.

Photo Credit

@Tobie Charlton

On Thursday 22^nd August nine local organisations came together to compete in JRF’s inaugural Social Value Cup Tournament, helping to raise funds for the Foundation to support their work in the local community.

Eleven teams made up of colleagues from companies including BCS Consultancy, ESG, Eversleigh LLP, Glencar who entered three teams including one sponsored by Ealing Studios, Howdens, Hyde Housing whose team was sponsored by Jackson Lifts, LMOB, and Wates, competed against a JRF team made up of some former professional footballers including JRF CEO Otis Roberts, the Stein brothers – Brian, Edwin, and Mark, and former QPR quartet Richard Langley, DJ Campbell, Marcus Bean, and Kieron St Aimie, as well as a youth team of 17-18-year-olds who made a good account of themselves.

All teams were supported by colleagues and family members with a crowd of over 275 cheerleaders, and youth coaches and volunteers from the Foundation coordinated the event.

Howdens the UK’s Number 1 Trade Kitchen Supplier were overall winners of the tournament. Howdens were one of three local companies who supported the recent installation of a new community kitchen at Bridgestone Arena.

Otis Roberts said of the day; “What fantastic inclusion from these companies that are committed to helping organisations such as ours. We are truly grateful, and we look forward to working with you all in the future as we serve the local community. Can’t wait till the next one!”

The August sun shone throughout the event which proved to be a friendly but competitive tournament with the companies pitting their wits against each other in a bid to carry home the Social Value Cup.

Everyone celebrated their combined efforts and the glory of the winning team, Howdens whilst enjoying refreshments which were kindly sponsored by the Breyer Group, into the early evening.

More information:

If you are a Company that would like to raise funds to support the work of JRF by hosting an event at Bridgestone Arena please contact CEO Otis Roberts on otis@jasonrobertsfoundation.org or Business Development Manager Martene Carroll on martene@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

Website links to the competing Teams & Sponsor:

BCS Consultancy – https://bcsconsultancy.com/

The Breyer Group – https://www.breyergroup.co.uk/

ESG Limited – https://esglimited.com/

Eversleigh LLP – https://eversleighllp.com/

Glencar – https://glencar.com/

Howdens – https://www.howdens.com/

Hyde Housing – https://www.hyde-housing.co.uk/

Jackson Lifts – https://www.jacksonlifts.com/

LMOB Electrical Contractors – www.lmob.co.uk

Wates – https://www.wates.co.uk/

Photo credit:

@Laurie Rampling

On Sunday 18^th August JRF hosted a ‘Community first’ intergenerational event at Bridgestone Arena which provided the local community with a fun day of sport including tennis, table tennis, and walking football, health, well-being, and family activities such as a bouncy castle, music, and refreshments. The community celebration was supported through Hyde Charitable Trust’s Surprise Fund.

Over 500 residents of all ages attended the event where JRF Founder Jason Roberts, MBE attended as a special guest.

Nuffield Health the UK’s largest healthcare charity, partnered with the Foundation on health initiatives including health checks and nutrition advice.

International German doner kebab company GDK sponsored the football tournament on the day as part of JRF’s ‘Heads-up’ programme to be launched this month.

The competition for 16 – 18-year-olds was organised by young JRF coaches and volunteers, was watched by the attending crowd and Jason and recording artist Akala. The top two winning teams were treated afterwards to snack boxes and refreshments at GDK in Willesden.

In the evening, the community heard from and celebrated the local DJs who contributed so much to music locally, regionally, and internationally. JB international, Chukki Starr, reggae artist and DJ Bushman talked about their life, career journeys, and music experiences through until 11:00pm.

Before the awards for winning team and player of the match were handed out, Jason addressed the young players who competed; “Thank you all for coming, staying, and taking part. I see a lot of you playing football and the reason we’re able to do that is because of the support of organsations like GDK.”

He went on to say to the young people who managed the event; “I want to big up Isco and his team for organising the tournament. If people like you, us (JRF), and companies like GDK don’t do these things for the local community, no one is going to. This is how I learnt to play football thanks to the support of local companies and people like you, so thank you very much.”