The Russell Martin Foundation (RMF) celebrated its 10th anniversary last week with a special reception event at the House of Commons with Brighton Pavilion MP Siân Berry.

Over 50 guests including the charity’s partners and funders joined RMF staff and trustees to learn more about the charity’s achievements over the last decade and its vision for the future from founder and former footballer Russell Martin.

Set-up by Martin in 2016 as a way for him to give back to the area where he was born and brought up, it started life as The Russell Martin Academy, delivering football coaching and participation opportunities to young people in Brighton and Hove before it gained registered charity status in 2017 and became The Russell Martin Foundation.

Since 2017, RMF has grown into a Sussex-wide, not for profit organisation, delivering a wide range of provision including vital education, health and well-being programmes alongside physical activity that support most in need communities and individuals across the county.

The charity engages with over 8,600 people with across Sussex every year through an increasingly diverse range of projects and has been recognised locally and nationally for its life changing social impact. Its work in education including the RMF Extra Time project, which partners with three local councils and 43 secondary schools across Sussex to support and re-integrate children back into school and mainstream education, was recognised last year when RMF won the Best Sports Community Programme at the national Sports Business Awards.

Last month and as part of its communiuty dance initiative for 5-18 year-olds, the charity’s Let’s Dance event at the Eastbourne Congress Theatre saw 850 school children perform over two nights in front of over 3,000 people. RMF has also been instrumental in the development of women and girls football across Sussex in the last 10 years running a number of programmes designed to reduce barriers to females playing and hosting the biggest annual grassroots girls football tournament in the region which last year saw 774 girls from 86 teams take part in the event in Burgess Hill.

The charity’s future plans, supported by the Football Foundation and Adur District Council, include the multi-million-pound transformation of Old Barn Way, the former home of Southwick FC, into a new community hub. Work on the new facilities to include a full size 3G pitch, clubhouse and changing rooms which will see RMF deliver a range of health, wellbeing and education programmes for the local community, is expected to start later this year.

RMF Founder, Russell Martin, commented:

“I’m very grateful to Siân Berry for her support in helping us celebrate 10 years of RMF. The impact the foundation has had on so many people is something I am so proud of and it has been driven by the amazing people we have at the charity. This is a great way to say thank you to them and to show our appreciation for everything they have done and continue to do.

I’m excited for the future of RMF including our plans for the new state-of-the-art facility at Old Barn Way that will be our home and enable us to have a positive impact on even more lives.”

Siân Berry MP, for Brighton Pavilion, added:

“For ten years the Russell Martin Foundation has played a huge role in helping young people in Sussex to thrive. This charity is a cherished asset in my Brighton constituency, and I am so pleased to be honouring the powerful work of the staff, coaches, educators and trustees in Parliament.”

“Their award-winning work covers such a wide range of issues, helping young people to raise their self-esteem, build confidence and communication skills, and focus on healthy relationships. This is such a fantastic blueprint for others to follow, and I am so proud to see a pioneering project in Brighton and Hove that makes such a difference for young people in particular.”

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