On Saturday we were delighted to welcome London Biggin Hill Airport to the RELOC8 EM Community Stadium as we celebrated their partnership with the Bromley FC Community Sports Trust.

Earlier this year, London Biggin Hill Airport became the lead partner for the Trust’s Women and Girls’ Community Provision and has proudly supported the growth of female participation in the Borough of Bromley. Sharing the same ethos, of providing opportunities to our local communities by removing barriers, the partnership has supported the Trust as we work to increase participation in football across all ages, not only through playing, but also coaching, refereeing, and volunteering.

David Winstanley, Chief Executive Officer of London Biggin Hill Airport spoke of the importance of providing opportunities to women and girls in both football and aviation.

Projects have been designed to ensure that women and girls believe that football is for them, regardless of whether they have played for years or never even kicked a ball. In a busy season, with the support of Biggin Hill Airport we have been able to deliver a range of projects, including outreach to local primary and secondary schools, delivering training sessions and organising events including ‘Let Girls Play’, festivals and tournaments.

In 2022, the Trust launched their first Women and Girls’ Strategy, which aims to increase female participation within our local community.

The two year strategy outlined three clear objectives:

• Providing football for all, both recreationally and competitively
• Developing our female coach workforce
• Engaging with our local community

A year later, and with the support of our partners at London Biggin Hill Airport we are pleased to announce an update on our progress towards our ambitious targets.

Women and Girls’ Development Officer, Andrea Ellis commented: “We have a fantastic relationship with London Biggin Hill Airport. We believe in the same vision of ensuring our local community can access opportunities regardless of their gender. We have some exciting plans in the pipeline which include supporting women and girls who want to find out more about careers in the aviation industry”.

During the half time break, we spoke to both Andrea Ellis and Hannah Gray, Community Manager and STEM Ambassador, from London Biggin Hill Airport about the fantastic work that has already gone towards increasing female participation in both football and aviation.