American Express – American Express and Albion in the Community host the ‘Cross-Curriculum Albion Challenge Cup’ to inspire youngsters to learn

Brighton & Hove Albion
Women’s players make a surprise appearance at the event held at the American
Express Community Stadium

Eighty six Year five and six pupils (aged 9-11) from eleven Sussex
primary schools¹ participated in the Cross-Curriculum Albion
Challenge Cup at the American Express Community Stadium (the Amex) in May.
Delivered by Albion in the Community (AITC), the official charity of Brighton
& Hove Albion Football Club (BHAFC), in partnership with American Express,
each school team completed a series of timed football themed challenges,
aligned to their curriculum areas of numeracy, financial literacy, and STEM.

Led by AITC qualified teaching staff and supported by American Express
colleague volunteers, challenges included sorting players in height order from
tallest to smallest, calculating the highest number of merchandise items
available within a £100 budget, and 
learning how to move Sphero Robots, using iPads, robot balls and
football mats around a course in the fastest time. American Express volunteers
were assigned to teams to support pupils with challenges, help judge activities
and record scores.

During the day, pupils and teachers were given a behind the scenes tour
of the Amex Stadium. To make the day even more memorable, as Main Sponsor of
BHAFC, American Express arranged a surprise appearance by four of the club’s
women’s team players: Katie Robinson, Veatriki Sarri, Elisabeth Terland and
Poppy Pattinson.

As the day drew to a close, medals were awarded to the top three scoring
school teams, Ocklynge Junior School, Eastbourne (winners), Goldstone Primary
School, Hove (second place) and Orchards Junior School, Worthing (third place).
At last year’s inaugural event Goring Primary, Worthing, took away the title.

Hannah Lewis, UK Country Manager at American Express said: “At American
Express supporting the communities where we live and work is one of our core
values. Colleagues have always been very supportive of AITC’s programmes with
young people in local schools. Football is an extremely powerful tool to engage
young people in numeracy, digital literacy and creativity. Sessions like today
are part of our wider commitment to supporting younger generations to feel
confident about their future. My huge thanks to the players for taking time to meet participants and
celebrate what they’ve achieved today particularly at this stage in the
season.”

Rob
Josephs, Schools Manager at AITC said: “It’s been an unforgettable day for
pupils here at the Amex. It’s great to see their enthusiasm throughout the
challenges. Most importantly, over the course of what’s been a fun-filled day,
they’ve gained valuable soft skills including teamwork, communication, problem
solving and resilience.”

The event was part of AITC’s and
American Express’ flagship volunteer programme Learn, Live, Play Together.

ENDS

¹ Participating schools:

Brighton & Hove
Schools:

·        
St Mary’s Catholic
Primary School, Church Road, Portslade

·        
Goldstone Primary
School, Laburnum Avenue, Hove

·        
Hertford Junior
School, Lynchet Close, Brighton

·        
St Peter’s Community
Primary School, St Peter’s Road, Portslade

·        
Saltdean Primary
School, Chiltington Way, Saltdean 

East Sussex Schools:

·        
Ocklynge Junior
School, Victoria Drive, Eastbourne

·        
Parkland Junior
School, Brassey Avenue, Eastbourne

·        
Cradle Hill Community
Primary School, Lexden Road, Seaford

·        
All Saints CE Primary
School, All Saints Lane, Bexhill-on-Sea

West Sussex:

·        
The Southwater Junior
Academy, Worthing Road, Southwater, Horsham

·        
Orchards Junior School,
Nelson Road, Worthing 

CONTACTS: 

Maunie Catcheside (on behalf of American Express);
Brighton and Hove PR Limited; [email protected] 07801 465618

Julie Bettridge, Communications Manager; Albion in
the Community

[email protected] 07876 898054

Shikha Thaman,
American Express:

[email protected]

ABOUT ALBION IN THE COMMUNITY

Albion in the
Community is the official charity of Brighton & Hove Albion Football
Club.  For more than 30 years, Albion in
the Community has been using the power of football to engage and inspire people
to get active, learn new skills and live well.

The charity
delivers award-winning programmes across Sussex that improve people’s
wellbeing, supports learning and offers inclusive opportunities for everyone to
enjoy football.

In excess of 5,000
local children benefit from AITC’s regular football sessions, over 1,500 people
with disabilities participate in AITC’s programmes and over 9,000 children are
supported through their educational schools programmes.

Learn more at albioninthecommunity.org.uk