The Foundation have been selected as partners to work with Sutton Council in the borough's schools.
Football pressure groups and champions for inclusion joined forces at Crystal Palace FC on Wednesday night (20th August) to discuss and advise grassroots clubs about equality.
The summit at Selhurst Park, organised by the Surrey FA, saw Kick It Out and Football v Homophobia discuss their work along with disability coaches, Mental Health in Football Ambassadors, FA Coach Mentors and Christian League representatives.
The event showcased the great work that goes on to create a diverse football community at all levels of the game, offering best practice examples to clubs and organisations on how to increase inclusion within their own structure.
Among the best-practice examples was the Crystal Palace Foundation's power chair league, which has grown from one team to an entire league, and also their work with a delegation of Indian female footballers that visited in order to improve the women and girls game.
Outstanding individuals, dubbed Local Community Heroes having broken down barriers within the game, also shared their own personal stories about their journeys within football.
These included Levi, 19 and Zee, 21, who were on the Crystal Palace Foundation's Aspire to Engage programme and are now part-time coaches at the club. Paul Richards also discussed his role as The Eagles’ Mental Health Ambassador and how funding through the Surrey FA has supported the disability team he coaches.
The evening closed with a Question & Answer session, which covered topics as diverse from Walking Football to the Disability Player Pathway.
To find out more about the foundation go to http://cpfcfoundation.org/