Keeping with Government guidelines to help stop the spread of Covid-19, the Foundation has now moved sessions online to ensure participants on the Foundation’s Player Pathway Programme are able to take advantage of new activities and resources while staying at home.

Chelsea vice-captain Bright surprised some of our female players when she took time out of her individual programme to join their weekly online video call for a Q&A session.

The Lionesses defender spoke about her career highlights, what training she has been doing during lockdown and revealed that Blues teammate Ji So-Yun is the best player she has played alongside.

Bright said: ‘It was lovely to chat to the girls. They seem a very driven and talented group.

‘It’s important to keep connected, give advice and share our experiences. Helping others is something I always look to do, so being able to share some points and tips during this time was really nice.

‘I’m already looking forward to seeing them down at Kingsmeadow in the future.’

Accessible for both boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 16, participants on our Foundation Player Pathway Programme now have access to two different online platforms through the Virtual Player Development Programme, live online sessions and Centre Google classrooms.

The Foundation are delivering 96 sessions per week across 10 counties with 1400 participants signed up to the Virtual programme.

Foundation area manager Nick Brown said: ‘Millie was great during the Q&A, offering an incredible in-depth insight into her career to date.

‘For these young aspiring female footballers it was an invaluable experience to be able to ask Millie their questions and no doubt an opportunity they will never forget!’

He added: ‘Our team have been working relentlessly from home to provide a range of resources for our participants to ensure we are still able to support our local communities.

‘We are proud of all those involved in recreating our Player Pathway Programme as they have been incredibly innovative and proactive in their approach.

‘While these have been created to support participants and their families whilst at home, these can continue when sessions go back to normal as additional support.’