At Natural Breaks, it’s incredibly important for us to work with our communities and develop genuine, authentic relationships that help us fulfil our mission and provide life-changing, person-centred support.

Our ongoing partnership with Vauxhall Neighbourhood Community (VNC) enables us to do exactly that, creating valuable opportunities that benefit the people we support.

In the summer of 2025, we worked together to hold inclusive football sessions for people we support.

Collaboration with Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council

The team at VNC played a key role in supporting the sessions, opening the pitches and making the people we support feel welcome from the outset. They provided equipment such as football bibs, liaised closely with our teams around session times, checked in during and after each session to ensure everything ran smoothly, took care to securely lock up the pitches afterwards and kindly rented their sport pitches to us free of charge which helped keep costs down for Natural Breaks and the sessions inclusive for all.

Originally, VNC were running a Summer Programme which included a kids' football camp and a range of other activities, with plans to secure sessions for people with additional needs. As those plans fell through, rather than leave the space unused, they approached us to collaborate - offering activities for the people we support over the summer and ensuring the football pitches could be enjoyed by all the local community.

Empowering lives through sport and community connection

The sessions were run by Thomas, a support worker from our Social and Learning department, and empowered people we support to:

• Develop their football knowledge
• Learn how to dribble, pass and shield the ball
• Score accurately
• Build-up their fitness and stamina in a fun, positive environment

Both sessions received positive feedback and high engagement, with suggestions to hold more football sessions in summer 2026.

Without the support and commitment of Vauxhall Neighbourhood Community, this wouldn’t have been possible. We are incredibly grateful that the partnerships and relationships we have built have enabled us to provide enriching, inclusive and empowering opportunities for people we support.