Students from three local high schools – Broughton Hall, Cardinal Heenan and Notre Dame Catholic College – met with the Liverpool midfielder at a recent PL Inspires session, which focused on building resilience.
PL Inspires is an education programme, newly introduced in 2019, developed by the Premier League and professional football clubs with partnership support from the Professional Footballers Association and the Prince’s Trust.
Aimed at young people aged between 11 and 25, the programme brings together learnings from previous PL programmes, such as PL Enterprise and PL Works, as well as the Prince’s Trust Achieve course.
“I really enjoyed taking part in the students’ PL Inspires session at Anfield,” said Lallana. “It’s great to see the positive effect this has on the pupils’ way of thinking, working and their confidence.”
LFC Foundation’s secondary school-based PL Inspires programme focuses on students aged 11 to 16 who have the potential to improve upon their attendance, attainment and behaviour.
LFC Foundation staff are based at participating schools one day a week, working with selected young people and creating bespoke sessions consisting of group work, collapsed curriculum days, social action projects and one-to-one mentoring, that seek to re-engage students in education and build an array of skills.
The sessions consist of topics such as employability skills, gang culture and homelessness, as well as qualifications in Leading a Healthy and Active Lifestyle and Community Project.
Matt Parish, LFC Foundation director, said: “This is a fantastic new programme that combines different sessions to help engage and inspire young people and equip them with the skills they need to succeed.
“We are continuing to grow this programme within our partner schools to enable us to reach as many young people as possible and create opportunities to enable them to reach their potential.”
Mrs Lodge, deputy headteacher at Broughton Hall, added: “The LFC Premier League Inspires programme has given many of our pupils an opportunity to engage in experiences and projects that go beyond the school curriculum.
“This has supported them in making positive choices and has helped them develop self-belief and resilience while continuing to raise aspiration. We look forward to continuing to work with LFC in delivering and developing this programme for our pupils.”