Don't look down on someone, unless you are helping them up.
The Twinning Project is a charity partnership between HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and professional football clubs. The objective is to twin every prison in England and Wales with a local professional football club. The Twinning Project delivers an accredited football-based personal development programme that builds communication, teamwork, leadership, resilience and employability skills, empowering participants to make positive life choices and successfully reintegrate into their communities.
What is the Twinning Project?
Many people entering custody have experienced significant disadvantage long before they offend. A large proportion have no formal qualifications, many were excluded from school, and too many leave prison without the skills, confidence or opportunities needed to build a positive future. Traditional education and vocational programmes often struggle to engage those who need them most. Sport provides a unique opportunity to reach this audience. By harnessing the power of football, the Twinning Project engages participants in a way that conventional interventions often cannot, creating a pathway into learning, personal development and employment.
The programme builds confidence, communication, teamwork and responsibility - qualities that help individuals rebuild their lives, reduce the likelihood of reoffending and make communities safer. Investing in effective rehabilitation is not simply about supporting people in custody; it is about strengthening families, reducing the financial and social costs of crime, improving public safety and creating lasting positive outcomes for society as a whole.
The Twinning Project uniquely harnesses the global appeal of football to engage people who are often hardest to reach, using sport as a catalyst for improved mental and physical wellbeing, personal development, rehabilitation and lasting positive outcomes for correctional facilities, communities and society.
of those in custody
are unemployed at the time of imprisonment
of prisoners
were regular truant prior to sentencing
of males prisoners
were excluded from school
of female prisoners
had no qualifications prior to sentencing
of male prisoners
had no qualifications prior to custody
of prisoners
do not have paid employment on release
Aims of the Twinning Project
Engage
Engage in rehabilitation services while incarcerated and foster connections between sports teams and correctional facilities.
Offer
Enhance skills and education while incarcerated to guarantee employability and opportunities. Improve mental and physical wellbeing.
Impact
The result is lasting change, individual transformation that contributes directly to a safer, more resilient society for all.
Local focus to support post release engagement
A Local Club and Prison relationship is optimal
Prisons and clubs to consider geographic proximity so as to consider post release engagement
Delivery that supports and protects local community
Delivery that dovetails with other local community initiatives and through the gate support
Clubs do not cannibalise from other clubs unless no provision is being undertaken
The Football Club Foundation to act as primary through the gate support to guarantee engagement
Inspiring stories
Discover powerful stories of transformation that reflect the true impact of our work. These voices reveal resilience, growth, and renewed hope among the individuals we support, showing how sport, education, and opportunity can change lives. Together, they demonstrate the strength of our community and the lasting difference rehabilitation can achieve.
Make a difference today
If you would like to support the Twinning Project and help us transform lives through education, sport, and rehabilitation, please reach out —together we can make a lasting difference.
Proudly supported by
The Twinning Project is proud to be supported by its valued partners, whose commitment and collaboration strengthen our mission to create positive change.
