Hi everyone, my name is Olivia Hancock, and I am an Apprentice Community Coach with Leicester City in the Community, the charitable arm of Leicester City Football club. We aim to bring the community of Leicester together through a variety of different activities and social interventions, and we aim to create a place for everyone.

My role began in late August 2024 shortly after finishing my A-Levels and has been a dream turned into reality. Four years ago, when I was 15, I created a video for the ‘Let Girls Play’ campaign where I talked about how I wanted to be another female working in the football industry because that’s how much football means to me, and about my continued passion for wanting to help women and girls gain access to football and sports.

To fulfil this dream, I am currently studying a Level 3 Community Sport and Health Officer course, which includes topics about working with different people within community and sport. My study consists of a mix of in person training and ‘Lifetime Education’, where I access online training through the online resource ‘Aptem’ to help me progress.

My working week at Leicester City in the Community is always fun, with a variety of things for me to get involved with whilst helping groups within the community of Leicester! For instance, I work on Premier League Kicks, a programme for 8–18-year-olds that is supported by the Premier League Charitable Fund, and uses the power of football and sport to inspire young people to reach their potential, in some of the most high-need areas in England and Wales. Being part of programmes like this is so rewarding. You see children progress and develop through our programmes and it’s incredible to be a part of the team that makes that difference.

Another programme, Active Girls, was launched in November 2024, and I have been heavily involved in it. Active Girls gives girls equal opportunities and safe places to take part in female only provision, which is something I am glad we host here as it would have been something I would have loved to be a part of at a young age. Active Girls was inspired by our Active Women programme, which aims to get women 18+ active through sport to increase mental, physical and emotional wellbeing and have a more active social life. The addition of Active Girls allows participants to progress through both programmes now too.

I am so grateful to be able to work within the Leicester City in the Community team alongside amazing colleagues who I can continuously learn from, as well as being able to work and represent the community of Leicester. I will always encourage others to get involved with their local club’s Community Trust, I’ve been granted some incredible opportunities here, even getting the opportunity to travel abroad, and I’ve learned so much during my time as part of Leicester City in the Community.