
Player Foundations
Supporting Worthy Causes
While the PFA is responsible for establishing community engagement as an essential part of the professional footballer's role, players also have a long tradition of independently supporting various causes.
Alongside the considerable charity work players carry out with their clubs, many players support additional fundraising activities for charities and other organisations. For some players, this passion for helping others leads to creating their own foundations, so they can offer more targeted support for issues and communities close to their hearts.
We support these remarkable individuals by offering expert guidance to all current and former players interested in setting up their own charitable foundation. This ensures all legal, compliance and organisational standards are met and that the players have all the tools in place to successfully tackle the issues they care about most.

Player Foundations

Chris Mitchell Foundation
The Chris Mitchell Foundation was established to raise awareness around mental health; promoting and safeguarding the mental health and wellbeing of players, ex-players and staff working in the Scottish professional football industry.

Alan Shearer Foundation
The Alan Shearer Foundation was set up to directly support the Alan Shearer Centre – a highly specialist, disability, respite, residential and social provision for people with complex and acute disabilities and sensory impairments.

Darby Rimmer MND Foundation
The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation, set up by Stephen Darby and Chris Rimmer, aims to raise awareness of MND and fund and assist research into the illness.

Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust
The Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust was set up to continue the great community work that Regis was involved in, including the Strike A Change mentoring programme.

Russell Martin Foundation
The Russell Martin Foundation is a charity based in Brighton and Hove that uses the power of football to help change people’s lives.

DT38 Foundation
The DT38 Foundation tackles the stigma surrounding testicular cancer and other men’s health issues, and runs awareness campaigns encouraging men and boys to regularly check their bodies.

Chris Mitchell Foundation
The Chris Mitchell Foundation was established in memory of the former Bradford City player to raise awareness around mental health and wellbeing for players, ex-players and staff working in the Scottish professional football industry. The foundation collaborates with clubs and mental health charities to promote and safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of Scotland’s professional footballers and staff.

Alan Shearer Foundation
The Alan Shearer Foundation was set up to directly support the Alan Shearer Centre – a highly specialist, disability, respite, residential and social provision for people with complex and acute disabilities and sensory impairments. The foundation ensures facilities, including specialist leisure activities and respite breaks, remain free to use for disabled people and their families.

Darby Rimmer MND Foundation
In 2019, former Liverpool, Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers footballer Stephen Darby and British Forces veteran Chris Rimmer launched the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation. Stephen and Chris both have motor neurone disease (MND) and the foundation aims to raise awareness of MND and fund and assist research into the illness. They also offer grants to those with MND and provide information and emotional support for those diagnosed with the disease.

Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust
The Cyrille Regis Legacy Trust was set up to continue the great community work that the late West Bromwich Albion striker was involved in. This includes the Strike A Change mentoring programme, which is a collaboration of all six West Midland Football Club Foundations to support disadvantaged young people who demonstrate a passion for football.

Russell Martin Foundation
The Russell Martin Foundation is a charity based in Brighton and Hove that uses the power of football to help change people’s lives. Set up by former player Russell Martin, the foundation includes a well-established football academy, an alternative education programme for 11–13-year-olds and a health department that distributes food to those in need within the local community.

DT38 Foundation
The DT38 Foundation was set up in memory of Dylan Tombides, an Australian and West Ham United footballer who was just 20 when he lost his battle with testicular cancer. The foundation tackles the stigma surrounding testicular cancer and other men’s health issues, and runs awareness campaigns encouraging men and boys to regularly check their bodies.

Find out more about setting up a foundation.
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