Championing inclusion

Ian A McMillan looks at initiatives using football to help people get fit, make friends and feel more part of the community… When Sue Baker and her daughter Natalie heard about the football training sessions offered to local young people with Down’s syndrome, they were keen to take part. Natalie, who is 16 in July, comes from a football-mad household in Surbiton, Surrey. Despite having an older brother and a father who are ardent Chelsea fans, Natalie had grown up with only a passing interest in the ‘beautiful game’. The references to Chelsea Football Club were so frequent at home