Interview with FreeKicks Foundation
An incredible charity doing incredible work!
I sat down with Steve Thorpe and Sam Downing, the founders of ‘Free Kicks Foundation’ - an incredible organisation who are bringing smiles to families faces - to find out more about the incredible work they do.
Can you start off by telling us what the Free Kicks Foundation is and how it all began?
We raise funds to give disadvantaged children days out at football, although we’re going to spread to wider sport in the near future hopefully as well. The children/young adults are nominated to us by other charities or via a form on our website.
The idea for the foundation began in 2006, becoming a registered charity and delivering our first ever ‘Kick’ in 2007. A ‘kick’ is the name we give to the special day out that a person receives.
What inspired the creation of what you do, and what was the first ever ‘Kick’ you provided?
It was an idea by one of our trustees, one of our friends. In the end, he came up with the idea and we just took it from there as we thought it might be something nice to do.
We’ve always been around football. Well, I’ve always been around football and supporting Peterborough United. We have now delivered over 9000 ‘Kicks’. That figure includes match tickets + mascot experiences - everything.
Our first ever ‘kick’ was actually at a pre- season friendly for Peterborough vs Manchester United in 2007.
This one was for two children, who were nominated by people at the children’s ward at Peterborough Hospital, to be mascots for the game. They were Man United mascots and that is still, to date, the only time we’ve ever had Man United mascots as part of a foundation ‘kick’.
Are there any clubs you have got a really good relationship with?
Peterborough is the obvious one to say as they were really supportive and have always helped us with things. One year, they made us the logo on the front of the shirts for a game for a special FreeKicks Foundation Day, along with announcements and features in the matchday programme. After the game, we were then able to auction off the shirts which was incredible.
What kind of reactions do you get from the children and families who participate in the experiences? Are there any memorable moments that stand out to you?
It was 2017 and I still can’t talk about it without crying. It was at Gillingham FC and there was a little boy who’s name was Coco. He was non-verbal and he couldn’t walk very well. We did the tour of the stadium, including dressing rooms etc, and then we went out on to the pitch. As we were sat on the pitch, the Gills’ mascot, who is a horse (Tommy Trueblue), came out and sat down with Coco. Coco was fascinated by him, stroking him, just totally transfixed.
That moment has stuck with us forever. It’s not just the difference it makes for the children, but also for the wider family.
What challenges have you faced in continuing to grow and sustain the work that you do?
The biggest challenge is when you get the nominations for the big clubs and it’s hard to let people down. With the big clubs, we can’t get mascot packages because they don’t sell them, although the good thing about that is they allocate them to their junior supporters in a random draw - and they don’t charge for it.
But it doesn’t help us. In fact it makes it harder for us.
When we get an e-mail through saying Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United or Man City, we’ve ended up having to buy tickets from Viagogo just to fulfil the wish.
How can people get involved, whether that’s supporting financially, volunteering, or helping to spread the word?
We have the contact form on the website where people can volunteer for us or raise funds their own way, whether it’s runs or taking part in bike rides.
We’ve very recently launched a lottery that we’re working on with the Cambridge Community Foundation.
In terms of social media, we are on X, Facebook and Instagram - ‘Free Kicks Foundation’ so if people want to get in touch to help us, raise money, or nominate children, they can do that there.
We’re a very small team, so we are always looking for those who can potentially help us!
What’s next for you guys and are there any exciting plans or goals for the future?
We are going full time so we will have more time to raise funds and explore different options with clubs, and hopefully get involved with more foundations.
Hopefully we’ll have the time to go and visit the big ones and come to an agreement with them.
The other thing that is potentially on the horizon is that one of our trustees works as a fundraiser for Young Lives versus Cancer (formerly Clique Sergeant). We are in talks with them about becoming a charity partner, which will be huge for us.
If you’d like to find out more about FreeKicks Foundation, you can visit their Website or follow them on X, Facebook & Instagram
Enjoy this interview?
You can find this and much much more in every single edition of Parks to Pitches magazine - right here
Thanks to all of our Club Groundhopper Sponsors for supporting our work
