Celtic FC Foundation launches new girls’ football programme in Brixton, London, offering under‑privileged girls and young women a chance to play football on a soaked pitch. The initiative, part of the foundation’s widening mission that now spans Glasgow, London and the United States, was launched with local teams and coaches from Dulwich Village FC and features a tournament at Ferndale Sports Centre. The foundation, which began in 1887 to feed Irish immigrants, has expanded into London, Scotland and the U.S. and runs other community projects including a fuel‑bank, a Christmas appeal that donated £400,000 to local families, homeless people and refugees, and a £100,000 contribution to feed Gaza through the UN World Food Programme. Celtic’s chief executive, Tony Hamilton, said the charity work is “in our DNA” and that the club’s roots in community support drive its outreach. The programme also ties into the foundation’s Breaking Barriers project in Hackney, which integrates refugee and asylum‑seeking communities through sport. Coaches Vladyslav Kysil, Lucky Saunders, Sarah‑Shalohm Griffith and Nygoni Thompson led the launch, and the event highlighted the foundation’s commitment to inclusivity across faiths and backgrounds. The foundation’s funding comes mainly from Celtic, supplemented by charity events such as golf days and a bi‑annual legends match, with a small share of public funding compared with other English clubs. The launch in Brixton underscores Celtic’s strategy to extend its charitable work beyond Glasgow’s soup kitchens into London’s diverse communities, building on its history of support that began with Brother Walfrid’s work in Glasgow and later in London’s East End.

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