Session 5: The Client Perspective – Walsall FC Foundation

This session explores how Future Flames benefits one of its largest clients. Walsall FC Foundation is the social outreach arm of Walsall Football Club, and delivers community health, employment, school and diversity projects. Working with Future Flames, the Foundation has documented and communicated its impact in new ways, including a major diversity and inclusion campaign that has been entered for national awards.

This session was led by Adam Davy (Director, Walsall FC Foundation).

As a League Two club, Wallsall FC’s internal media resources are limited:

• Larger clubs in the region have internal media teams. While Walsall does not, it still delivers community work of equivalent scale and value.
• The Foundation sought a way to document and communicate its work to funders, partners and community groups.
• After encountering Future Flames through the Walsall 2040 project, Adam approached Melissa Tisdale to explore the possibility of a partnership to document the Foundation’s social value work.

To date, the most significant collaboration between Future Flames and Walsall FC Foundation is the Saddler’s United Campaign, aimed at engaging underrepresented local communities:

• The project targets underrepresented communities that contribute to the diversity of the borough – including Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities; African, Caribbean and Afghan communities; and LGBTQ+, women’s, disabled, and armed forces and veterans’ groups.
• Future Flames has documented themed match days for Black History and South Asian Heritage Months, International Women’s Day, and more. Events include steel bands, dancers, community guests and the human stories that show how football can be a unifying force.
• The campaign was entered for both the English Football League Project of the Year award and a National Business Award for diversity. Future Flames’ two-minute highlight video was a required part of the applications. Without it, entries could not have been submitted.

Adam highlights the professionalism of Future Flames’ student team, noting:

• Students operate in high-profile, high-pressure environments with significant public attention – yet they conduction themselves with professionalism and skill.
• Video production quality goes beyond expectations.
• Future Flames’ visual record tells the Foundation’s community impact story in ways a written report never could.