Hetton Academy has 58 students working with Foundation of Light, taking part in the Premier League Inspires Challenge initiative, whose topic for this year was Mental Health. On Thursday 25 April 2024, 5 Hetton Academy students were invited to represent the Foundation of Light’s project and Hetton Academy, at the Premier League Inspires Challenge Celebration Event at Wembley Stadium, joining representatives from over 40 other football clubs.

Since the programme began in November, students have been working on their Mental Health-related social action projects where the theme of their project was chosen to be “Opening Up The Conversation” with the aim of spreading the message that mental health impacts everyone far and wide. Students started with creating posters of support which were displayed at the turnstiles of the Stadium of Light during a recent Sunderland FC Championship match, which had 42,000 supporters in attendance. On match day, all students taking part were invited to attend the Beacon of Light to join in a workshop in support of Washington Mind, a local service which offers mental health support to children and adults, before attending the Sunderland and QPR game as special guests of the Foundation of Light.

The next step of the project involved reaching out to people via social media.  Students were given the amazing and unique experience of holding a Q&A session with Sunderland First Team players Jack Clarke and Bradley Dack. Students pushed aside their nerves and asked probing and insightful questions which helped generate further discussions between the students and players. Jack Leighton, Premier League Inspires Coordinator commented: “The team were absolutely amazing. A credit to the school, a credit to their families and a credit to themselves. One of the proudest days being coordinator today”.

At the Premier League Inspires Challenge event, students had the opportunity to showcase their social action project idea and social media video. As well as being able to network with students from across the country, sharing ideas and learning about the impact their projects have had in their respective schools, students also took part in reflection workshops around the impact that the programme has had on them personally, and what key messages the students will take away from the Inspires project. The day ended with a fantastic tour of Wembley Stadium, as a final reward for the positive engagement and impact the students have made.

Foundation of Light is the official charity for Sunderland AFC, using the power of football to educate, involve and inspire thousands of people across Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham. Foundation of Light aspire to create better opportunities and better lives for their communities, working across four programme areas – sport and play, world of work, education and health and wellbeing. For more information please visit: https://foundationoflight.co.uk/

The Premier League Inspires Challenge is a personal development programme supported by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) aimed at using the power of football to inspire young people aged 11-18 to develop the skills and positive attitudes needed to succeed in life. For more information please visit: https://www.premierleague.com/footballandcommunity/community/premier-league-inspires

Watch our students’ fantastic interview with Jack and Bradley here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdhWohYHduc