Brentford FC stars Marcus Gayle and Salma Mahamud brought some stardust to local primary schools this October in the name of inclusion. During Black History Month, Brentford FC’s Community Trust delivered 19 workshops to schools in Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond reaching over 400 children. Bringing with them the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off trophy Brentford won earlier this year in their successful promotion campaign to the Premier League, the pair talked to the young people about England and Brentford’s Black History, celebrating the positive contributions those communities have made over the last decades and centuries.
Alongside these school visits, part funded by The Premier League, the Club has also delivered Black History themed discussion groups for all of their staff. There was also a fan event at the London Museum of Water and Steam. This is all done with the central aim of making sure Brentford is as inclusive a club as it can be and has inclusion embedded in all that it does.
This week Marcus and Salma were visiting Rabbsfarm school in Hillingdon as part of their tour of schools that lie within the footprint of the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. All professional football clubs in England have comunnity arms that reach out and deliver a range of sports and educational activities with local communities. Brentford FC Community Sports Trust has won Trust of the Year on multiple occasions.
Gayle, who played over 230 games for Brentford and is now a Club Ambassador, said: “Black History Month shouldn’t have to be just a month, it should be all year round. But to get to that point we need to start educate young people more about our shared history. And we are starting that now here today.”
Brentford have had more than 140 Black players over the last 40 years. Our first to play in the EFL was Chris Kamara in 1981. Those players have scored almost 800 goals for the Club.
Salma Mahamud, who plays for Brentford’s women’s teams has been with the club since 2018 and is studying for a Sports Psychology degree at UCFB, said: “It’s important that these young people, especially young Black or Asian people, see role models they identify with and hopefully are inspired by. At this impressionable young age, ambitions and expectations are formed so as well as teaching them about their past, we want them to look forward to their future”.
For more information on Brentford’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work and plans, visit our official website.