SAFC stars visit Beacon of Light as part of EFL Week of Action

As part of EFL Week of Action, we welcomed Sunderland AFC first-team players to the Beacon of Light to showcase some of the work of the Foundation of Light.

With several new players joining in the summer, it was a chance for Nathan Bishop, Timothèe Pembèlè, Adil Aouchiche, and Mason Burstow to learn about how the Foundation uses the power of football to tackle the North East’s biggest societal challenges.

Anthony Patterson, Abdoullah Ba, Dan Ballard, Pierre Ekwah, Niall Huggins, and Dennis Cirkin also joined their teammates at the Beacon, as they visited several of our programmes, and even joined in with some sessions.

Launched in 2017, the Week of Action sees Clubs and Community Organisations from across the EFL’s three divisions showcase some of the most impactful community projects with managers and players joining participants across the country.  

Deputy CEO, Jamie Wright, greeted the SAFC stars with a welcome presentation to give them an overview of how the Foundation of Light operates and some of the work done at the Beacon and across the region.

After hearing about our programmes, the lads started a tour of the Beacon, to see that work in action. They started by joining a Wear Together social session and stopped for a chat and some games with the participants.

They then took to the indoor arena where several sessions were in action, including a Ha’way and Weigh fitness class, Military Veterans football session, and Little Dribblers junior football.

The SAFC stars headed outside where more kickabouts were on the go, taking to the 3G pitches to play some more football with Primary Stars and Every Player Counts.

Next stop was the Arriva World of Work Zones, starting with the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food Kitchen, where they joined the Family Learning team for a cooking session. The lads headed to the eSports Gaming Room and the Harrison Zone to meet some Study Programme and Vantec Employability participants.

The players also made a stop at the Helen McArdle Zone to chat to some students on our Health and Social Care course, before joining in with some engineering training with the specialist equipment in the Nissan Room.

The final stop was the rooftop football pitch to meet some of the young players on our football scholarships, finding out about how they combine education and football development before joining in with a penalty shootout.

On hosting the Black Cats, Jamie Wright said: “It was fantastic to have them with us, and to see the players so interested in the work we do.

“They seemed really engaged in every session that they visited, and I know our participants massively appreciated having them along.

“Hopefully, some have gone away with a better understanding of how the Foundation uses the power of football and Sunderland AFC to make a positive impact in the community, and know that they are always welcome along to help us deliver that.”