The FA
Friends and neighbours
Last week, Slenky unveiled the ‘Take Your Shot Zone’ in collaboration with the ‘Brent Works Wembley Job Fair’ at Wembley Stadium.
Our aim was to modernise the traditional careers event by transitioning it to a more accessible and sustainable digital format, allowing opportunity seekers to use their mobile devices to connect with employers and businesses offering opportunities.
We also unveiled the latest upgrades to the Slenky platform and app.
Take Your Shot Zone Partner - The Football Association
Why the FA?
The Football Association (FA) is undoubtedly the largest business in North West London, and Wembley Stadium is perhaps the most famous building in the city. Over the past decade, Slenky has had the privilege of collaborating with both the FA and Wembley Stadium.
In previous blogs, I’ve mentioned that growing up next to the stadium was an odd experience to us as young people. There was never any real outreach, and the stadium didn’t reflect the make up of the local community sufficiently for anyone to realistically aspire to a career with either organisation. (Seriously, why would I believe you?)
Happily, a lot has changed in recent years. The work we did together during the pandemic has certainly made an impact on the thousands of young people who have accessed the stadium to attend matches and other events since then. With that backdrop, it was really good to hear from the FA, who expressed their interest in participating in the pilot Take Your Shot Zone.
In the years since, I’ve had the privilege of lots of access, holding meetings, attending events and partnering with the FA to co-produce Slenky events. I've met and worked with people ranging from the COO to the Head of the Women's Game.
I might even have had some influence on the pitch in recent years, bending the ear of England Coach and Slenky board member Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink with my footballing theories.
I say these things becasue I know and have seen that things are changing at the FA, and the desire to recruit from more diverse talent pools that is embraced from the top is passionately carried forward by the good folk in the HR team.
However, we still need to attract and engage the communities that have previously felt alienated.
Sharing the FA and its opportunities via mobile is something we’ve always aimed to make the norm, and it’s one of the main reasons the business was moved to Wembley Park.
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.”
