Events

Saturday 5th April 2025

On a sunny Saturday afternoon eight young people were treated to a special day at Reading Football Club as part of JRF’s ‘Empower to Achieve’ Heritage project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Pupils from Lyon Park Primary School had been doing some research on one of the Women of Heritage & Sport the project is focused on – Celeste Stevens, Head of Academy Operations at Reading Football Club, who incidentally hails from the same estate in Stonebridge as former Reading player and founder of JRF – Jason Roberts, MBE.

Accompanied by JRF staff and the senior leadership team at Lyon Park school, the young people thoroughly enjoyed a behind the scenes tour led by Celeste where they visited all the club’s departments ahead of the local derby versus Wycombe Wanderers FC.

From meeting the media, the customer service team, and safeguarding team as well as the first team players, the highlight of the day for the lucky group was to have the opportunity to be flag bearers leading the teams out in a live televised game on Sky Sports.

A quick-fire Heritage Q&A with their host Celeste, followed a trip to the Club shop where the young people were given Reading shirts to wear as they immersed themselves in the atmosphere of the game as Reading ran out 1.0 winners. An enjoyable day all round!

For more information on the ‘Empower to Achieve’ project please contact info@jasonrobertsfoundation.org

After a flying start to the New Year, February has certainly not slowed down for the JRF Team!

From Walking Football with our over 50’s Caribbean Team, to the Healthy Hub – for JRF’s Community Health Co Production Programme to undertake base rate health assessments for local residents with support from Brent Council’s Brent Health Matters (BHM) Team.

JRF’s latest Empower to Achieve Woman of Heritage & Sport, Yamilé Aldama was busy encouraging young people in healthy competition in various sporting challenges. She paid a visit to students at Salvatorian College for a Memory Cafe which gave the young people an opportunity to ask questions about life growing up and her experience competing in the Olympics.

Two of JRF’s Youth Ambassadors had a Q&A with Yamilé in the onsite Cultural Media Centre over a game of chess.

February Half Term gave the JRF team the opportunity to get local young people outside to take part in sports, fitness activities, and games at their HQ at Bridgestone Arena, and at Alperton Community School as part of the Collaboration Project with Us Charity, funded by John Lyons Charity.

Coach Wilbert put a group of girls through their paces playing tag rugby as part of the EmpowerHer Girls’ Rugby Project funded by England Rugby and the Mayor of London.

Resident referee Jawahir ‘JJ’ Roble returned to JRF HQ to officiate a youth football match and afterwards the players heard from the inspiring young woman as part of the ongoing Empower to Achieve Heritage programme.

All of these activities have been captured in this short video from our young Media Man, Marley https://vimeo.com/1065465847?share=copy

We hope you enjoy.

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