• Government determined to build future legacy on the back of England’s success and increase participation for women and girls
• Comes as part of Government’s £230 million investment to build or improve 8,000 grassroots football and multi-sport facilities by 2025

Following the Lionesses’ incredible success at UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, the Culture Secretary has announced that grassroots facilities will be named after the 23 players in and around each of their respective hometowns or places that shaped their footballing careers in honour of their achievements.

As part of the Government’s £230 million investment to build or improve 8,000 grassroots football and multi-sport facilities by 2025, alongside the stipulation that they must provide access for women’s and girl’s football, the move will cement the team’s legacy for generations to come. This will support the FA’s ambition for the tournament to create half a million extra opportunities for women and girls to play football.

£25 million has already been invested over the last year in grassroots facilities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with more than 170 facilities delivered by the Football Foundation, in partnership with the Premier League and the FA.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said:

The Lionesses have enjoyed amazing success in a record breaking tournament – selling out all of their matches, with over half a million fans at games throughout the competition.

Millions of women and girls have been inspired by the team’s success and honouring their achievements will mean they leave a lasting impression at grassroots facilities across England.

The Government continues to support the growth of women’s and girl’s football and driving up participation in the sport.

Working alongside the FA, the Government is determined to achieve their ambition of equal access to football for girls in 90% of schools by 2024, and the £320 million PE and School Sports Premium School Sport and Activity Action Plan will help more girls to take part in sport and physical activity.

During the pandemic £2.9 million in grant funding was provided through the Sport Survival Package to the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship to cover essential costs and allow the completion of their seasons. This was part of the unprecedented £1 billion package to ensure the survival of the grassroots, professional sport and leisure sectors during the pandemic. The staging of EURO 2022 has also been supported with £4.6 million.

In addition, the Government listed several high profile women’s tournaments, including the Women’s FIFA World Cup, and the UEFA Women’s EUROs as events of national significance. This means they will now have greater opportunity to be shown on free-to-air television, increasing awareness of the women’s game, providing greater commercial opportunities and inspiring more young girls to take up the sport.

It has also been announced that a review of the domestic women’s game will launch later this summer, to look at how to grow the game at elite and grassroots level. More details will be set out in the coming weeks.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• The Government’s grassroots pitches investment was announced in March 2022. The next phase of projects will commence later this year.
• The Women’s FIFA World Cup, and Women’s UEFA EURO tournaments were added to the listed events regime in April 2022.
• More details on the £320 million PE and School Sport Premium can be found on gov.uk.

• Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko and Refugees Minister Lord Harrington will send letters to sponsors and families this week thanking them for their generosity and goodwill
• Since March, more than 104,000 Ukrainians have arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme
• The Homes for Ukraine Scheme recently expanded further to consider new applications from children not travelling with or joining their parent or guardian, provided they have parental consent

The Ukrainian and UK governments this week will send thank you letters to sponsors and families across the UK who have welcomed Ukrainians into their homes and communities.

Signed by Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko and Refugees Minister Lord Harrington, the letters will praise the collective national effort that has driven the scheme forward,.

They are expected to say: “Together you and your fellow hosts, and the Ukrainian diaspora community, have given 104,000 people safe refuge across the UK. You have saved lives, given hope, and offered sanctuary to people in desperate need. This represents the UK’s largest offer of help to people fleeing war since 1945.”

Since March more than 104,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine Scheme, showcasing the best of British hospitality and compassion, continuing the country’s proud history of stepping forward in the hour of need. Families and hosts do not just provide housing but welcoming homes, warm friendship and local advice for planting roots in an unfamiliar community.

Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko said:

As Russian tanks started rolling over Ukrainian borders and the first cities were bombarded, tens of thousands of British families have offered their homes to Ukrainians.

I know it is not easy to host displaced people from a different culture, an unfamiliar background, speaking a foreign language and most importantly deeply troubled and hurt. Yes, we are different in so many ways but we have in common an acute sense of injustice and readiness to stand up against evil. We are fighting fearlessly until our land is free but with the same intensity, we are remembering kindness and friendship. As Ukrainians return back to rebuild our nation they will cherish this chance to learn about your culture, your way of living, even your cuisine. Although here I guess both sides will be able to enrich each other.

The ties between our nations, our governments have never been closer. This is because of each and everyone of you, your generosity, patience, kindness.

I am humbled and honoured to serve for the goodness of both of our people.

Refugees Minister Lord Harrington said:

I cannot thank the British public enough for their steadfast goodwill opening their doors to people from Ukraine and integrating them into their local communities.

Families are having to make difficult decisions to leave their homes and we understand behind 104,000 arrivals are stories of pain. From the moment the first tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine, this Government promised to do all we could to help people. And thanks to the limitless generosity and compassion of the public, we are delivering on that promise.

As the war rages on longer than anyone would have hoped, the governments of Ukraine and the UK have united to thank all those for giving people sanctuary in their time of need. The letters will praise sponsors and families for their “continuing efforts…making a difference, and that [they] have our heartfelt thanks and the thanks of the people of Ukraine.”

From day one, Ukrainians have the right to work and to access benefits and public services, including education and healthcare, on the same-footing as UK nationals. This will continue to be the case for those who wish to remain in the UK.

The deployment follows the UK’s joint security declaration with Finland signed in May.

More than 750 troops from the UK, USA and Finland gathered this week in Niinisalo, western Finland, to participate in the four-day high-readiness exercise. Partner nations practised interoperability between air and land forces ahead of Finland’s accession to NATO. This type of international training is critical in preparing allies to operate alongside one another should NATO need to deploy in the future.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey MP said:

Exercise Vigilant Fox has demonstrated the strength and interoperability of our Armed Forces with our US and Finnish allies and reaffirms our commitment to the defence and security of the Baltic Sea region.

British troops based in Estonia as part of Project Unified Stance swooped into Finland in Royal Air Force Chinook helicopters. The troops from C Company, 2 Rifles Battlegroup, were inserted into Niinisalo to join Finland’s high readiness forces from the Jaegar, Karelian and Pori Brigades. The exercise also included soldiers, armoured fighting vehicles and helicopters from the US 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team (The Iron Brigade).

Units from all three nations undertook a series of demanding training events, conducting offensive and defensive operations including helicopter assaults, covert landings and short-notice raids using American Black Hawks, Finnish NH-90s and UK Chinooks.

Such training improves integration between air and land forces, as well as interoperability between partner nations, and is crucial to ensuring that NATO forces can work together effectively on operations and in war.

As well as air-land integration, the exercise focused on developing command and control procedures and tactical drills using a combination of live and blank firing drills and urban operations.

Colonel Jukka Nurmi, Deputy Chief of Training, Defence Command Finland, said:

Training events like Vigilant Fox are a great opportunity to learn from each other and Finland is most grateful for participation of international partners. For Finland, the exercise is an effective way to demonstrate the competence of our conscripts and to verify and develop the international compatibility of our own troops. The training and exercise activities carried out with close partners, such as the United Kingdom, are a continuation of long-term close cooperation.

Wing Commander Stephen Boyle, Defence Attaché, British Embassy Finland, said:

Our soldiers, sailors and aviators have received a warm welcome in Finland over the last few months.  Exercise Vigilant Fox is the latest activity in an ongoing series of events across the domains.  As Finland moves towards full NATO Membership, we will continue to seek opportunities like this to show solidarity with Finland, learn from each other and improve our ability to operate together.

This exercise comes just two weeks after RAF fighter aircraft deployed to Finland and Sweden for joint training.