Aston Villa Foundation to partner with Kaizen Foundation

The Aston Villa Foundation is pleased to partner with the Kaizen Foundation on the development of the ‘Play it Forward’ project.

The project, previously known as the ‘Playzones Programme’, will tackle inequalities in physical activity and access to facilities by funding community-led spaces.

With additional support and funding provided by the Football Foundation, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers Association, and Birmingham City Council, Kaizen Foundation will support 350 additional hours of activity to take place on outdoor mini pitches in lower socio-economic areas across Birmingham.

Kaizen Foundation funding will also contribute to the long-term sustainability of seven custodian organisations working in the heart of these areas. These organisations can apply for small grants, managed by the Aston Villa Foundation, to cover equipment costs and provide relevant training and qualification opportunities for staff and volunteers.

The Aston Villa Foundation will offer the expertise of highly skilled professionals and experts from within their team around grants and fundraising, marketing and communications, governance, monitoring, evaluation and impact, health and safety, safeguarding, and risk management. In addition to off-site spaces, the development of the Warehouse space will see two multi-use games areas, managed by the Aston Villa Foundation, built on the current broadcaster’s area of the North Stand, acting as a functioning community space on non-matchdays.

The project aligns with the Aston Villa Foundation’s commitment to their work with children, young people, and young adults, both within the immediate areas around Villa Park and the wider Birmingham population, providing a holistic landscape of opportunities to support them on their life journey.

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 biggest GameTech companies in the world. Its vision is to serve as a catalyst for positive change on a global scale in partnership with local communities, NGOs, and private and public institutions.

The Kaizen Foundation’s goal is to foster innovation and improve all aspects of people’s lives 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.”