In the first of our 2023 Climate Series podcast episodes, we spoke to Richard Lindsay, the man spearheading Birmingham FA’s ‘Save Today, Play Tomorrow’ programme.
The award winning programme was established in June 2021 as the first of its kind sustainability program in the UK that looks to empower and engender grassroots football to support the goal of creating a low carbon, greener game across their region.
Richard joined us for our 2021 Climate Series of webinars, where he told us about the background to the programme and its early successes. It’s an episode you can listen to and watch.
Over a year later, we invited Richard back as a guest on The YSF Podcast, as we look ahead to Earth Day 2023 and the role of the sport and physical activity sector in addressing the climate emergency.
“Everyone was really excited about getting back on the grass and playing,” said Richard, speaking of the return to football after the pandemic.
“But this season we’ve really seen a genuine interest and a genuine uptake in clubs wanting to do more and it’s becoming part of their agenda when they’re talking about how they operate now. So it’s been really uplifting.
The last sort of twelve months has been really, really positive from clubs and we’ve launched a lot and there’s been a lot of information out there and there’s been a lot happening in the press, not necessarily always at a grassroots level, but now clubs have something to identify with within grassroots, which has been really positive.”
In the episode, we chat with Richard about the four strands to the ‘Save Today, Play Tomorrow’ programme – Health and Wellbeing; Positive Education; Climate Action; and Reconnecting Football to Nature.
Richard provides examples of the work they’ve done under each strand and gives his tips to other organisations looking to make a positive impact on the climate.
You can find The YSF Podcast on all main podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It’s also available on our website.
To learn more about the ‘Save Today, Play Tomorrow’ programme, visit the Birmingham FA website and sign up to their dedicated newsletter at the bottom of that page.