The following Government initiatives fund community schemes operated by, or in conjunction with, football clubs.
Playing for Success establishes out of school hours study support centres at professional football clubs and other sports clubs. 88 centres are based in football clubs, including all 20 clubs in the Premier League, to which the Department for Children Schools and Families will contribute £6 million in 2007-08.
The Home Office funds Positive Futures, a national sports-based social inclusion programme. Seven football clubs (Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient, Millwall and Portsmouth) have football in the community schemes affiliated to them that have successfully applied for Positive Futures programme funding. The 2007 annual monitoring and evaluation report on the entire Positive Futures programme was published in November 2007.
The Kickz scheme is currently delivered in partnership with 19 Premiership and 11 Football League clubs across the country. It offers positive evening activities for young people, including football leagues and education sessions. Evaluation of the four pilot Kickz projects showed that local crime had fallen by an average of 27 per cent. during those times that projects were being held.
The Football Foundation is investing £4.7 million into the Kickz scheme and the DCMS is investing £1 million via the Premier League's good causes fund. This investment over three years will expand the Kickz programme so that over 100 projects will be delivered by more than 30 professional clubs.