Last week’s official launch saw a range of assembled invited guests attend Selhurst Park to see the exhibition and enjoy an evening of networking, discussion and reflection.
At its core was an in-depth discussion, hosted by Jamie Dapaah, EDI Communities Lead for the London Region at the FA, with panellists Mark Bright (Director of U23 Development at Palace’s Academy), Rachel Williams (Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Women in Sport), David Gleave (author of _Football’s Black Pioneers_) and Saffron Renzullo (Co-Founder of Inter Melanin FC, a community platform encouraging Black women, women of colour, trans and non-binary footballers).
Williams said during the discussion: “Local clubs like Palace, like all the other amazing institutions you've got in South London, allow young boys and young girls to find the sports that they love – whether that's football or whether it's something else.
“You have the infrastructure here, you have the facilities, but more importantly, you've got the people, you've got their history, and you've got that tradition of really loving the game. You’ve got families who go and watch whatever sport they want to watch together, and that's massive, particularly for building trust amongst groups who maybe don't see themselves represented in sport as often as they should.
“Having a really rich sporting ecosystem in an area is just a superpower for participation, really.”