Story added: 18th December 2024
With 2023 yet another 12 months of tireless community work ticked off, 2024 promised to be even busier than its predecessor, kicking off with members of the Norwich City Academy paying a visit to the Clare School in Norwich to meet the students for an afternoon of sport and mild physical activity.
There was more schools-themed action to kickstart 2024, with The Nest playing host to the Premier League Primary Stars Girls Under 11 Tournament, with Woodlands Primary Academy securing the silverware after some seriously impressive performances.
February was a month of football action, with The Nest pitches feeling the full force of both our Soccer School and Development Centre participants. The wet weather had no impact on our football fanatics, with smiling faces there to be seen from both players and parents.
Back at Carrow Road, February also saw the return of the Premier League Inspires Dragon’s Den Challenge, with children from local secondary schools pitching their ideas on mental health awareness to a panel of judges.
Whilst it was all action both on and off the pitch in February, there were also some major developments at the Foundation’s community site in Brundall, with work beginning on renovating the clubhouse.
March began with a big one – the Foundation Takeover Game vs Sunderland. Thanks to the generosity of the football club, one game each league season is dedicated to the Foundation, giving us the chance to demonstrate to a packed out Carrow Road the fantastic community work we do each year. Just under 100 of our participants and staff members braved the torrential rain for the half-time pitch parade, which was warmly applauded by the watching fans.
There was yet more schools action in the month of March, with Foundation staff visiting local primary schools donning their best fancy dress for World Book Day.
Girls of primary school age were also at The Nest for International Women’s Day, engaging in a series of empowering and educational workshops, with guest speeches from Norwich City Executive Director Zoe Webber and Team GB rugby player Georgie Lingham.
Proving to be the busiest month thus far, March still had more to offer, with the winners of January’s PL Primary Stars U11 Tournament Woodlands Primary Academy returning to The Nest, this time for the regional round of the competition. A gritty, determined performance saw the girls once again emerge as victors, earning themselves a place in the national round of the competition.
With spring here and Easter just round the corner, April proved busy once again, especially on the football pitches. The school holidays meant our coaches were needed across the county, as Norfolk’s budding young footballers took to the pitches for some fun in the sun (and rain!)
There was also plenty of action for our Girls Development and Advanced Development teams across the Easter break, with fixtures at The Nest against Lincoln and Cambridge.
It wasn’t just footballing action during the school holidays however, as we hosted our first men’s team player appearance of the new year. City forward duo Josh Sargent and Ashley Barnes joined Jacob Lungi Sorensen and Sam McCallum at RAF Mildenhall to meet the children enrolled on the sports programmes there, taking time to join in a host of different activities and games.
Whilst the children at Mildenhall were meeting their heroes, fundraising extraordinaire Del Sullivan was completing his own heroic challenge back in Norwich. Raising money for the Foundation, army veteran Del walked ten marathons in ten days, finishing at Carrow Road on the 27th April ahead of the Norwich game against Swansea.
May marked the beginning of events season at the Foundation, with the ever-popular Corporate Cup returning to The Nest. The previously cold and blustery months at The Nest now a distant memory, the tournament took place in glorious early-summer sunshine, with Yellow Brick Mortgages emerging as eventual victors.
With the warmer weather showing no sign of disappearing, The Nest was once again the central host for action, this time for the Premier League Primary Stars Authors Day. Local author Jess French was on hand to deliver a series of exciting workshops on the power of creativity and the importance of reading.
Away from The Nest, there was further fundraising action, with over 100 people of all ages and abilities taking to the iconic Norfolk seafront to take on 2024’s Coastal Walk Challenge.
To round off May, participants on our Realising Potential programme paid a visit to Banham Zoo, meeting and feeding a host of different animals.
June began in similar fashion to its predecessor, this time with our fabulous fundraisers switching the crooked coasts of Cromer for the snow-tipped peaks of Snowdonia. 2024’s Three Peaks Challenge taking 43 hardened walkers to the UK’s three highest peaks, the event raised an outstanding £28,500.
The girls from Woodlands Primary Academy embarked on the final step of the Premier League Primary Stars U11 tournament , travelling to Brentford for the national round. A spirited performance saw the team fall just short in the final.
Further fundraising action on the East Anglian coastline saw 50+ people take on the very first Race Against the Sun Challenge, chasing the dying of the light as they walked (and ran!) from Cromer to Hunstanton.
Events season now in full flow, Norfolk’s keenest cyclists strapped on their helmets and braved the far-from-summery weather for this year’s Cycle Swarm.
June also saw the Foundation’s first ever Armed Forces Day at The Nest, featuring a military parade and a Armed Forces XI vs Foundation XI football match.
Away from Norfolk, the Norwich City Cerebral Palsy team secured their first ever major silverware, writing the wrongs of last seasons cup final defeat to overcome Chelsea in the FA Disability Cup Final.
It was our Realising Potential cohort who took centre stage at the start of July, organising their own fundraising Bingo Night, with all proceeds going to the Foundation and to the Alzheimer’s Society.
July also meant it was Summer Cup time, as the first of the teams began to arrive at The Nest for our midsummer tournaments. With some seriously impressive football on display, as well as some excellent teamwork, there were smiles all round come the end of the day.
Our Summer Cup superstars weren’t the only ones making the most out of the fantastic facilities at The Nest during July – football residential sides from Italy and Australia made the most of the glorious sunshine, upping their off-season training out on our 3G pitches.
There were some famous faces returning to the Foundation during July – Lionesses superstar Lauren Hemp returned to her home county to officially open our brand new full size football pitch at The Nest, aptly named ‘The Lauren Hemp Community Pitch’.
With August approaching, there was time for one last big event, once again, a brand new fundraiser. Lap Lotus saw people of all ages and abilities, including participants from our disability dance group, take to the iconic Hethel HQ to walk, run, push and scoot their way round the track.
There was further footballing fun to kickstart August, with Norwich shot-stoppers Angus Gunn, George Long, Archie Mair and Dan Barden visiting the children on our summer goalkeeper residential at The Nest.
Representative CCO’s from across the country were also at our Horsford-based community hub during the month of August, this time for the Canary Cup. With some impressive performances across the age groups, there was some yellow and green joy for our very own young Canaries in both the U10 and disability categories.
September was a busy one, even by our standards. The month began in monumental fashion, as our ninth Run Norwich smashed new records, in more ways than one. 6941 finishers, two new course records and the all new Run Norwich Junior event meant that race day was once again a huge success.
There was no time to kick back and relax however – attention was now on 2024’s second Foundation Takeover Game, this time against Watford on the 21st September. A stark comparison to March’s grey skies and torrential rain, Carrow Road was this time bathed in glorious sunshine, as Carrow Road rose to applaud both our participants and our fantastic Run Norwich volunteers.
With autumn beginning to draw in, work at the Foundation continued to tick over, beginning with some exciting renovations and improvements at The Nest. Work began on an all-new on-site shop and wellbeing space, and a team of volunteers from Aviva were on hand to help repaint and tidy parts of the clubhouse.
Our young footballers continued to light up the pitches in our Schools League and Soccer Skill Centres, and there were some big names at The Nest to greet them, with City duo Ashley Barnes and Jose Cordoba on hand to help out serving hot drinks from our Green Farm Coffee van, as well as open our new greenhouse on the allotment site.
To all but conclude 2024’s events, Canaries legend Bryan Gunn returned to Barnham Broom for our annual Golf Day, this time accompanied by Norwich Sporting Director Ben Knapper.
The final fundraiser of 2024 came in the shape of our On the Buzzer, City! quiz, this year hosted in Carrow Road’s The Lion & Castle. With 32 teams in attendance, eight rounds of challenging quiz questions meant that by the final round, the top three teams were separated by just three points!
November at the Foundation always means taking the time to reach out and thank everyone who has helped to make a difference in the calendar year, and this year was no different. During Thanking Week, we welcomed the Friends of the Foundation to The Nest for our Business Networking Breakfast, to thank them for their support and generosity in 2024.
There was still plenty of thanking and rewarding to be done however – the 20th November was our annual Business Leaders Dinner event, where we reward local businesses who have gone above and beyond for commerce and connectivity this year.
Wrapping up yet another year of fantastic community work, December began with two of the Norwich City Women team arrive at The Nest to pay participants on our Girls United programme a special visit.
There were also some big changes at our Brundall Sports Hub, as the recently renovated main building had its interior spaces photographed for the first time, ready to welcome hundreds of new participants through its doors in 2025.
This year really has seen it all – we’ve been represented across the country, welcomed thousands of faces into our venues throughout Norfolk and helped better hundreds of lives within our community. From all of us at The Foundation – thankyou!
Here’s to 2025.
19th December 2024
Launch of the 150-Mile Challenge to raise vital funds for Norwich City Community Sports Foundation and Big C Cancer Charity.
18th December 2024
Take a look back through 2024 with us in this year's yearly recap.
26th November 2024
On Wednesday 20th November, the Foundation's annual Business Leaders Dinner returned to Carrow Road, celebrating the achievements of local businesses in 2024.
12th November 2024
Back after a one-year absence, 2024's On the Buzzer, City! welcomed over 180 people to the Lion & Castle for an evening of brain-testing quiz questions.
When you donate a little each month, you will be helping to transform the lives of local people of all ages who need our support – giving them the opportunity to connect with others like them, feel happier and healthier in themselves, and raise their aspirations.
On the Buzzer, City! Quiz is our hugely popular annual quiz held at Norwich City Football Club, and it returns on the 7th November! Rounds typically include sport, history, film & TV and more, with special guest questions from Norwich City players and legends.
We have Soccer Schools running at venues across Norfolk & Suffolk, and whether participants are new to football, or are already a budding Canary superstar, the Soccer Schools programme has been put together to provide a fun, holiday activity at an affordable price.
As Norwich City Football Club's official charity partner, we help thousands of people every year achieve their goals through sport, supporting some of the most disadvantaged, disabled and talented people across Norfolk. Our vision is to support, inspire, and improve our community.
Keep up-to-date with the latest news from the Foundation
