Kickz began as a pilot project in London between the Premier League and the Metropolitan Police in 2006, with the aim of using football to bring communities together and engage with young people.

The vision was to "build safer, stronger, more respectful communities through the development of young peoples’ potential", getting to youngsters who had previously proven difficult to reach and guiding them towards a range of healthy and constructive activities.

The growth of Kickz has been phenomenal and today 42 Premier League and Football League clubs run a combined 112 projects across England, with 45,000 kids engaged in their local community in just one year and 85,000 personal outcomes achieved overall, including 5,500 educational qualifications.

Kickz has gained an excellent reputation and its format and approach to monitoring have been recognised as a model of best practice by the Audit Commission.