Andy Devaney
West Ham The Foundry is open, and it’s not just another ribbon-cutting photo-op. It’s a working heartbeat: the club’s award-winning Foundation headquarters reborn as a serious community hub with the scale, grit and follow-through to match West Ham’s history.
Baroness Karren Brady did the honours with the scissors, unveiling a multi-million-pound redevelopment that will expand the club’s reach to more than 60,000 people a year through 35 programmes. The Foundation forecasts £75 million in social value across the first five years—numbers that would make even the most hard-nosed bookkeeper look up from the ledger.
Who turned up (and why it matters to the locals)
The guest list was suitably weighty: MPs, civic leaders, community partners, football figures and club ambassadors. Men’s Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo and Women’s Head Coach Rehanne Skinner toured the site, alongside midfielder Tomáš Souček, who knows the place first-hand—his daughter attends sessions there.
Foundation CEO Joseph Lyons set out the plan; Brady set the tone. “The Foundry represents exactly what we are – a community. A community that helps one another, supports one another and inspires one another.
“And what happens here really is just the tip of the iceberg – the impact of our community outreach work can be felt right across the capital and beyond – ensuring 60,000 individuals will benefit from our support each year.
“The Foundry is an inspirational environment, a triumph of innovation, dedication, and grit – all the values that West Ham United prides itself on.
“When we moved to our stadium, almost 10 years ago, we doubled down on our long-held commitment to serve our community and help fulfil London’s Olympic Legacy, across the capital and beyond – a genuine determination to tackle and solve the major problems impacting the people of London, and to illustrate exactly how a Premier League football club like West Ham United can be such a powerful force for good.”
What’s inside: from classrooms to a café that pays it forward
This isn’t a trophy room with inspirational slogans. West Ham The Foundry is built for work: spaces for health and wellbeing, an outdoor gym, classrooms, and a new kitchen and café—profits earmarked for free meals for those who need them.
At full tilt, the site can support up to 4,000 participants a week, spanning education, employment, physical and mental health, social inclusion and a new enterprise zone for budding business leaders. The Foundation’s programmes radiate well beyond Beckton, across east London, Essex and even internationally.
Core backers on the day included The Football Foundation, City Bridge Foundation, Trust for London and Charity Bank, plus zone sponsors such as The London Marathon Foundation, The Lord Mayor’s Appeal, lifelong Hammers Anne Graham and Stephen Scobie, and a network of Founding Patrons.
Programmes on show: football as a gateway, not a finish line
Flagship initiatives were out in force. ‘Healthier Happier Me’—with the NHS—targets childhood obesity through better nutrition and physical activity. Premier League and PFA-backed football-plus-education pathways use the game to pull young people into learning. Enterprise projects push personal development, and ‘Any Old Irons’ keeps older supporters connected and included.
And because nights can be the hardest time to be without help, Brady also confirmed a new safety net:
During the event, Baroness Brady proudly announced the launch of the West Ham United Night Shelter, which will see The Foundry provide a hot meal and a safe place to sleep every Saturday night, extending to nightly offering for a week during the Christmas period.
The Foundry’s name isn’t branding; it’s lineage
The moniker nods to Thames Ironworks FC (1895), the club’s founding story forged in Canning Town’s shipyards—craft that served the Royal Navy and pushed 19th-century engineering forward. That same blue-collar backbone runs through West Ham The Foundry: build something useful, build it to last, and make sure it serves more than matchdays.
Voices from the ground
West Ham United Foundation CEO, Joseph Lyons added: “We’re proud to officially open The Foundry, our new community hub that brings to life our mission: to create lasting opportunities for all, grounded in trust, purpose and community. This space is more than a building; it is a catalyst for real and meaningful change, where lives across East London and beyond can be empowered and transformed.
“None of this would have been possible without the vision and commitment of our Club Board, and the steadfast support of our sponsors and funders the Football Foundation, Charity Bank, Trust for London, City Bridge Foundation – alongside our valued network of partners and patrons.
“Looking ahead, our ambition is clear: to grow further, broaden our reach and deepen our impact, ensuring The Foundry becomes a beacon of opportunity for generations to come.”
Nuno Espirito Santo, West Ham United Men Head Coach commented: “I’m really honoured to be here. I recently joined the Club and being invited to this event makes me really proud.
We always have time for this kind of things and I’m really proud, I’m really proud and I’m honoured to be part of a Club with these values to try to help the community because it’s one of the things that I really believe that we should be all together, no matter where you come from, so I’m glad and happy to be here.”
Rehanne Skinner, West Ham United Women’s Head Coach added: “It’s quite hard to put into words, actually, how much of an impact and how important it is that these spaces are available. I think the amount of things that the Foundation actually reaches across the community is just so vast.
When you’re reaching out to over 60,000 people a year, that just tells you everything that needs to happen within a Club across a whole spectrum of different activities. Just having this base here, it’s a fantastic building. I think everybody’s done such a good job of making it work for what the community needs are as well and it’s just a fantastic asset for the football club to have.”
West Ham United Men’s Team midfielder Tomáš Souček said: “It’s really good to be here, because I’ve been with West Ham for six years, I know this place a lot, but now it’s even more impressive. It’s unbelievable how they changed the building. I’m as happy as possible for the Foundation, for the work they do, so I’m just proud to be here today.”
“We as players, we play for the fans and everyone sees that, but this type of work, it’s something not many people see, not many people celebrate, but me personally, I put so much respect on everyone, because this is the project we should celebrate, because this is something we do for the people, this is something special.”
Kiara Tuitt, a 20-year-old who participates in the Training Ground + programme at The Foundry added: “I participate in The Training Ground + programme, an employability programme which works out of The Foundry, engaging young people aged 18 to 24 or so, who are not in education employment or training.
They do mindset training and give tips on interviews and CVs. They combine classroom activities with on the pitch activities; it highlights one of the best things about The Foundry because they use both indoor and outdoor facilities for our sessions.”
West Ham United Club Ambassador Anton Ferdinand said: “It’s fantastic, I feel really privileged to be part of this today. As someone who has been part of the Club as player, a fan and now an ambassador, I started from the age of nine and the Club were at the heart of its community, so its amazing to see them able to do this on a wider scale. To have a place where all people, of all ages in east London can feel safe is something communities need and that is exactly what The Foundry is going to do”
Richard Masters, Premier League CEO added: “West Ham United Foundation positively impact their community throughout the year and are an example of the excellent work carried out by club charities across the country.
“Facilities such as The Foundry show the value professional football clubs create by investing in their local areas, developing state-of-the-art infrastructure, and providing tens of thousands of jobs.
“The Premier League and our clubs are committed to supporting the wider game and communities, contributing £1.6 billion over the past three years.”
The takeaway
West Ham The Foundry isn’t a glossy annex. It’s a practical, purposeful extension of the club’s roots—ironworks to groundwork—designed to make life measurably better for tens of thousands across East London and beyond. If you want to see what football can do when it remembers where it came from, start here.
To learn more about the West Ham United Foundation, visit the club’s official site.
