Ipswich Town Foundation: The Beating Heart of a Reborn Club

A Club Reconnected With Its People

Ipswich Town has always been more than a football club. It’s a community anchor, a shared identity, a badge that carries stories across generations.

And nowhere is that spirit more alive than in the Ipswich Town Foundation, the charity that has become the clearest symbol of the club’s rebirth.

Not long ago, under the previous ownership, the old Community Trust had almost vanished. Programmes gone. Staff gone.

The connection between club and community shrank to a shadow of what it once was. For a club built on connection, it felt like losing part of its soul.

But with the arrival of Mark Ashton and the new ownership group, the lights came back on. The rebuild began.

In 2022, the organisation stepped forward with a new name, Ipswich Town Foundation, a name that reflects strength, purpose, and permanence.

What the Foundation Actually Does

At its core, the Foundation is about people. Real people. Kids, families, older supporters, whole communities.

They use the badge to lift people, and they do it with a set of values that everyone on staff signs up to: Honesty, Hard Work, High Standards, Willingness to Learn, and Integrity.

You can feel those values in the way sessions run, nothing flashy, just proper care and effort.

Community Participation & Inclusion

This is where the Foundation’s heartbeat is loudest.

• Disability Football: These sessions give children and adults with disabilities a place to play and belong. And the club backs it properly.
• Ipswich now has a First Team Disability Ambassador, which isn’t just a title; it actually means something. The first one was George Edmundson, who didn’t just show up for a photo. He bought the disability team full kits out of his own pocket before he left. That stuck with people.
  The role is now held by Chiedozie Ogbene, who’s taken it on with the same warmth and energy.
• Player Development Centres: A pathway for young players to grow at their own pace.
• LGBTQ+ Football: A safe, welcoming space where everyone can enjoy the game without judgment.

Health & Wellbeing

Some of the most meaningful work happens here.

• Golden Days Café: A warm, memory-filled space for older supporters and those living with dementia.
• Senior Blues: Social sessions that keep older fans active, connected, and part of the club they love. These programmes help people stay moving, stay talking, and stay part of something bigger.

Youth Engagement

Football becomes a lifeline for many young people.

• Premier League Kicks: Free evening football sessions that give young people a positive place to be.
• DIVERT: A programme helping those at risk find a new direction before things go too far.

Education & Employability

Football is the hook, but education is the engine.

• Premier League Primary Stars: Supporting literacy, numeracy, and confidence in local schools.
• PE & School Sports: Helping teachers deliver high-quality physical education.
• Post-16 Football & Education: A pathway that blends academic study with elite-level coaching.

Leadership With Purpose

The Foundation is led by Director of Foundation Dan Palfrey and Foundation Manager Jason Curtis, two people who’ve helped turn a once‑dormant operation into something the club can be proud of again.

And yes, the Foundation has its own Board of Trustees with people on it who genuinely understand the club.

You’ve got names like Matt Holland, Conor Chaplin, and Natasha Thomas involved, which tells you everything about how seriously the club takes its community work now.

These are people who live and breathe Ipswich Town, and they help keep the Foundation grounded in what the badge actually means.

From Decline to Renewal

The Foundation’s story mirrors the club’s own. Neglected. Forgotten and then rebuilt with care, ambition, and a sense of responsibility.

Today, it’s thriving not because it has to, but because Ipswich Town finally remembered what it means to be Ipswich Town.