Creating Opportunities
Established by Rio Ferdinand in 2012, the Rio Ferdinand Foundation is a youth and community development charity set up to address Rio’s lived experiences of inequality growing up in Peckham, South London. The Rio Ferdinand Foundation works in the heart of some of the UK and Ireland’s most under-resourced communities, empowering social mobility and driving social justice. We are committed to creating opportunities for young people, developing pathways and facilitating accredited training opportunities that help them realise their potential, giving hope for a brighter future.
We are a value driven organisation. We pride ourselves on using these values as the drivers of our work. Working with young people and partners from projects across the UK, we have developed these core values which underpin everything we do:
Youth Led
Young people are the heart of everything we do, inspiring us to evolve and adapt, so we can support them to realise their full potential.
Empowering
Enabling young people to recognise their skills, giving them ownership to achieve their individual goals.
Resilient
Bouncing back with enthusiasm and fresh solutions, continually learning and taking the time to actively ‘listen’ and respond to the world in which we work.
A Connector
Bringing young people their communities and our partnership network together; valuing diversity and creating a shared sense of belonging.
Courageous
With a ‘can-do’, open, supportive and honest approach - we are not afraid to do things differently.
Led by Experience
“Growing up as a young black man from a working-class family in South London, I had to work hard to disrupt the status quo, carve out opportunities for myself and overcome barriers to success.
But I didn’t do it alone. I had a strong support network who encouraged me to strive and achieve, to be best version of myself.”
- Rio Ferdinand
