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The Kaizen Foundation, in partnership with the Aston Villa Foundation, has launched the Play it Forward project to tackle inequalities in physical activity and access to facilities across Birmingham.
Previously known as the Playzones Programme, the initiative will fund community-led spaces, with additional support and funding provided by the Football Foundation, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers Association, and Birmingham City Council. The project will enable 350 additional hours of activity to take place on outdoor mini pitches in lower socio-economic areas of the city.
Kaizen Foundation funding will also contribute to the long-term sustainability of seven custodian organisations based in these communities. These organisations will have access to small grants, managed by the Aston Villa Foundation, to cover equipment costs and support staff and volunteer training and qualifications.
The Aston Villa Foundation will provide expertise in key areas such as grants and fundraising, marketing and communications, governance, monitoring, evaluation and impact, health and safety, safeguarding, and risk management. In addition to supporting off-site spaces, the development of the Warehouse space will include two multi-use games areas built on the current broadcaster’s area of the North Stand at Villa Park. These facilities, managed by the Aston Villa Foundation, will serve as community spaces on non-matchdays.
The project aligns with the Aston Villa Foundation’s commitment to supporting children, young people, and young adults both in the immediate areas around Villa Park and across Birmingham.
Guy Rippon, Head of Foundation and Community at the Aston Villa Foundation, said:
“We at the Aston Villa Foundation are proud to be working with an internationally recognised organisation such as the Kaizen Foundation, to continue to positively impact the lives of young people in the local vicinity of Villa Park.
The ‘Play it Forward’ project aligns with the Kaizen Foundation’s vision and mission and the connecting and supporting pillars of our own strategy. The community and charitable sectors in Birmingham are going through their toughest period in recent history, with vast funding cuts and community need at its highest. The ‘Play it Forward’ project will empower the voluntary and community sector with their own ambitions to grow as self-sustained organisations, as well as reduce the gap in young people’s access to physical activity spaces in urban environments.”
The Kaizen Foundation is a Social Purpose Organisation, funded exclusively by Kaizen Gaming, one of the world’s leading GameTech companies. Its mission is to serve as a catalyst for positive change globally, working alongside local communities, NGOs, and both private and public institutions, with a focus on Society, Education, and the Environment.
Panos Konstantopoulos, President of the Kaizen Foundation, said,
“Play it Forward is about creating real opportunities where they are most needed. By investing in local organisations and young people, we are not just funding projects, we are helping build stronger, self-sustaining communities. As an international foundation, it is a privilege to combine our global perspective with the Aston Villa Foundation’s local expertise to deliver meaningful impact here in Birmingham and exactly where it is needed the most.”
