Our Vision

When we established the Volleyball England Foundation in 2019, it wasn’t because volleyball needed another organisation around it. It was because we kept seeing the same quiet pattern.

Some young people arrive at sport easily. They have a nearby club, the right encouragement and the means to take part. Others do not. Not through lack of interest or ability, but because small barriers — cost, confidence, equipment, transport, or simply not knowing where to begin — add up to a closed door.

By the time anyone notices, they have already decided sport is “not for them”.

The Foundation exists to open that door early enough.

We work with schools and communities where opportunities are limited and create a safe first experience of organised activity. We use volleyball because it is welcoming, non-contact and accessible to beginners. It allows young people who might feel uncomfortable in more traditional sporting environments to participate without pressure or judgement.

We are not here to run competitions or produce elite players. Our purpose is simpler: to ensure that a young person who wants to try sport is able to do so, and to support them long enough for confidence, routine and belonging to develop.

Some participants will later continue through local clubs and wider opportunities delivered by Volleyball England. Others may not, and that is equally valuable. What matters is that they have experienced a supportive environment, regular activity and a place where they feel they belong.

In the end, the Foundation is about opportunity.

If a child has the chance to start, they have the chance to stay active for life.

Volleyball is simply the setting in which that first opportunity happens.