Free Kicks – born in Peterborough, now a national success

When we think of Peterborough United’s success stories, it is easy to name iconic moments in the club’s history or players who have gone on to have successful careers.

Less obvious, but right up there, should be the Free Kicks Foundation, a charity that provides football-related activities for ill, bereaved, and disadvantaged children, giving them a day to remember with their favourite club.

The charity is closely linked with Posh through founder Steve Thorpe, who has been following the club since his first visit in the mid-70s.

Steve’s story

“My first game was March 1974, so the championship season of '74 was my first experience. I thought that was how it was going to be every season."

Steve’s early Posh years were in the main stand with his great-auntie before moving to the Glebe Road terrace.

“I'm Peterborough born and bred, so had no other choice really.”

The birth of Free Kicks

The charity was created in 2006 on the back of a conversation between Steve and Leigh Porter, Posh’s former commercial manager.

“Leigh and I used to work at Thomas Cook together. So, he just came to me with the idea and said, what do you think? And then we took it from there."

“We just wanted to give something back to society; both of us had been lucky enough to be able to go to football all our lives. The idea was to give five or ten children a chance to be a mascot at Posh, so the growth to over 2,000 Kicks and nearly £900,000 raised since is beyond what we envisaged."

“Since then, it's just blown up. We started going to different clubs when we used to go to away games. We thought, oh, why don't we do it for the home mascots when we're going to away games? So, we contacted the clubs."

“Huddersfield is a good example. A lot of the time, when we were rivals, we contacted them, and then we worked with the hospice in Huddersfield and got someone to be the home mascot."

“Then the word spread from that. It has grown out of all proportion to what we thought it would.”

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How it works

The charity’s mission is ‘to create unforgettable sporting experiences for disadvantaged children and young adults across the country.’

It uses connections with clubs across the country to pair them with youngsters nominated by different charities and groups, then offers them the chance to lead a team onto the pitch as a

mascot, enjoy the stadium hospitality, or simply watch the side play. These nominations can be submitted via a form on the Free Kicks website.

Each experience is called a ‘Kick.’ The charity raises funds through different events to pay for each one.

“A good example is a club like Walsall, which was one of the first other clubs we worked with. We buy 23 mascot packages at Walsall, and they use their community programmes, schools’ programmes, and other organisations to choose a mascot for each home game."

“We use that as a model for about 10 or 12 different clubs that we work with around the country, mostly in the Football League. I think we have done 88 out of the 92 clubs in the Football League, and some in the National League."

“We work with Kilmarnock in Scotland, and we have just started working with Drogheda United in the League of Ireland as they are owned by the same person who owns Walsall."

“A lot of the work is now done by the clubs and the foundations as they know the kids who need the treats. They know the kids who come to their programmes and schemes. We just need them to promote it when it happens."

“Social media is helping grow awareness of what we do, and that will hopefully help get more funds in."

“I think people in Peterborough have heard of us, but around the country, it's harder. Having Jason Lee here for the promotion evening and posting about us on Instagram really helped.”

Local support

What started off as a hobby for Steve has taken over his life. He has finished working and is now full-time on Free Kicks, giving him more scope to investigate grants and other ways of fundraising.

Also on board from the start has been trustee Sam Downing, who does a huge amount of work behind the scenes, speaking to the clubs and families arranging the kicks.

Steve acknowledges the massive role his local club has played in putting Free Kicks on the map.

“The support we get from Posh is always brilliant. The club was great in helping with the promotion evening recently, and then the players wore the warm-up t-shirts for the 2,000th kick."

“Everybody there is good to us and looks after us. Posh is our club, it's nice that they support us and look after us. The people behind the scenes are brilliant."

“We have some great ambassadors through the club, people like Charlie Lee and George Boyd, but it has been harder since COVID."

“We used to go in the dressing rooms with the mascots and build relationships with players. But that stopped around COVID, and it's never really come back."

“It's one thing we need to work on, along with building up what we do with the women's game.”

Steve recently received his own recognition, being named Unsung Hero at the Posh end-of-season awards.

“It was nice to get the award, but Free Kicks is down to a lot of other people’s hard work, particularly Sam, who has been here since the start and does an amazing job behind the scenes.”

Building relationships with the big clubs in the Premier League

“We get so many nominations through the website, and we get nominations from other organisations like Young Lives versus Cancer and Teenage Cancer Trust.

“But they all want to go to Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal, Tottenham. And it is impossible to get in and build relationships with those big clubs."

“We have had some success with Man City - they contacted us and said, 'We would like to work with you.’ Now, anytime we get a nomination, we just e-mail the lady at Man City, and she sorts it out for us. That's a relief because we have never had that connection with a big club."

“Now there’s another job to find that person who we found at Man City at the other big clubs that can help us. They must get so many charity requests.”

2,000 up

Free Kicks passed their 2,000th kick last season, but the charity still has more that it does.

“That doesn't include all the tickets that we've done as well in the past; we have season tickets to Posh that we give out."

“We work with Heltwate School and Cambridgeshire Fostering to give tickets from our season ticket to every game. We also have Cardiff season tickets, which we work with."

“It's just brilliant when you get to hear the stories of the children who have benefited from Free Kicks."

“It's just to see the smiles on their faces. We had a lad nominated for a kick at our game with Burton, and to see the smile on his face as he's going on the pitch and coming off the pitch. That's what it's all about in the end, all the fundraising, all the hard work we put into it."

“It’s lovely to get the messages back from people thanking us for helping and giving their kids the opportunity. Over the years, sadly, there have been children who have passed on, and we hear from some of the families and say they always remembered that day. So that makes it all worthwhile.”

What’s next

Although Free Kicks was formed in 2006, it didn’t become a registered charity until 2007.

“Next year is our 20th anniversary. So hopefully we'll do a few more things, a bit more fundraising around that next year. I think we're going to do a bike ride because we have done a lot of them in the past. It could be 20 big fundraisers to celebrate the 20th year."

“Now, the promotion evening is over; I can concentrate more on that. That event was a big event and a lot of work, but it was well worth it in the end.”

Steve’s blues

There’s plenty to cheer on the Free Kicks front, but Steve fears things are not looking so good for Posh.

“I’m still a season ticket holder and go to as many away games as I can, but it has been quite a hard watch recently."

“I hope I'm proved wrong, but the future is a worry. Since the two play-off defeats, we haven't been able to replace the quality of players we lost with replacements anywhere near good enough, and I can't see how we get out of that cycle.”