Today, on International Women’s Day, (Wednesday 8 March), Brent Cross Town has announced an exciting partnership with one of London’s leading girls’ football clubs, Barnet Nightingales. The partnership marks the launch of Barnet Nightingales’ Community Training Programme which will inspire a new generation of female football players.

The free community training programme will provide young women and girls in Barnet and wider, with access to 26 weeks of free football training from their home in Friern Barnet, N10.

Daily football classes will run for young women and girls aged 6 to 16 years old, from March until August 2023. It has been made possible by sponsorship from Brent Cross Town, the development at the heart of the Cricklewood regeneration programme, which is being built in partnership with Barnet Council and Related Argent.

Morwenna Hall, Partner, Related Argent, commenting on behalf of Brent Cross Town, said: “We are proud to be supporting the Barnet Nightingales and to launch this unique free coaching opportunity for young women and girls across London. I particularly hope this training programme reaches girls in Barnet and inspires them to try football. Through our partnership with Women in Sport, we know there is a real need to champion inclusivity in sport – it can play such a crucial role in improving confidence and enhancing wellbeing, as well as creating the next generation of female athletes. Brent Cross Town is committed to addressing the imbalance in participation, and to providing the support and facilities for girls and women to enjoy and succeed.”

Every session will be led by a UEFA qualified coach, many of which are female. Players from London City Lionesses, London’s first independent professional women’s club, will also be joining the Community Training Programme to provide advice and guidance.

This coaching programme is free and open to girls with any level of experience, from those trying football for the first time to skilled and experienced players.

Sarah Gibb, age 8, who recently joined the Community Training Programme, commented: “Wow, this training programme is super cool, I wasn’t sure I’d like football, but this has got me hooked! I’ve learned so many new things and it’s been really fun too. The coaches have been amazing, and I’ve also got to meet some new friends and even been able to play with my school friends. I really look forward to coming back next week.”

Barnet Nightingales was established in 2015 with a mission to develop girls’ football in Barnet and provide a pathway for female players to progress their footballing careers. Barnet Nightingales now has 11 teams and 150 female players aged between 7 and 17 years old.

Councillor Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council, added: “Brent Cross Town’s sponsorship of the Barnet Nightingale’s Community Training Programme will mean many girls get access to free football training by a UEFA qualified coach in Barnet, no matter what their level of football experience. This is exactly the type of opportunity that I want our regeneration programmes to provide and one of the ways we are creating more opportunities to the community through the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme.”

Last year, Brent Cross Town also partnered with Women in Sport as part of their #TimeTogether campaign to tackle barriers for women and girls to exercise and spend quality time together.

Read more information about the programme and to sign up here to the football sessions.

Encouraging more women into the construction industry

Across the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme we also want to challenge the under-representation of women in construction by encouraging more of them into careers in the industry.

You can read about some of the female leaders working across the project here and read individual stories about some of the women working in construction roles across our programme. This includes the story of Natalia Bokhonko and Leila Sadeghi Bogar, and that of Belul Mesfin.