Swansea City AFC Foundation appoint new Head of Foundation

Swansea City AFC Foundation is pleased to announce Paul France as its new head of foundation.

France joins the foundation with over 25 years of experience in roles with football club charity organisations, having previously led operations at Huddersfield Town Community Trust, Burnley FC in the Community and Reds in the Community with Barnsley.

This comes after Helen Elton made the decision to transition into a new role following five years as head of foundation.

France will be intrinsic to the growth of the foundation and will lead the charity in achieving its strategic goals, looking to build on the excellent work of Helen Elton and her supporting team.

“I’m excited and really looking forward to it,” said France.

“The overall aim for me is for all Swansea City supporters and the wider population of Swansea to be proud of what its football club does within the community.

“Helen and the team have done a really good job in developing a consistent programme and my aim is to build on that, expand it and look at new partnerships and programmes.

“One of the things that attracted me is that Swansea is a city and a county, so it’s not just looking at what we can do to affect and improve lives in the city, it’s what we can do in the wider footprint of the club.”

Andrew Rhodes, chair of Swansea City AFC Foundation, added: “I am incredibly pleased to welcome Paul to the foundation and he brings a wealth of experience from several other clubs where he has delivered fantastic programmes in the local community, which puts him in an ideal position to lead the Swansea City AFC Foundation into the future.

“The foundation has been very successful in supporting the community of Swansea, but also much further afield into west and mid Wales, and has done so much to support young and vulnerable people in particular. 

“As a foundation, we want to be able to do even more as we look to widen the programmes we offer, and Paul is key to us being able to do that. 

“The foundation and its trustees are very grateful to Helen Elton who has worked incredibly hard and successfully as head of foundation for several years and we are very glad Helen is remaining at the foundation. 

“The foundation, the club and the supporters are part of a fantastic community in south Wales, and we look forward to working with Paul as he joins us at an exciting time.”