The campaign, launched during last year’s Black History Month, is our commitment to championing inspirational Black changemakers from the Chelsea community throughout the entire year.

To celebrate the role of education in making history, the Chelsea Foundation will be highlighting Valerie and Leonie’s contributions throughout their educational delivery programme, as well as spotlighting them in reports to funders and schools newsletters.

Here, we ask them some questions…

Why do you think a campaign like Making History Everyday is important for a club like Chelsea to do?

Valerie
I'm a 60s baby, so I remember Chelsea as quite a racist club. I was born, and grew up, in south London, and I remember not being able to come in this area at all. So, fast forward 50-plus years, celebrating Black culture, not just in October, but all year round shows how far we've come.

Leonie
I'd say the same. My dad and all my uncles are Chelsea fans and have been for a very long time. They were coming in the days where it was ‘you're alright’ because they know you, and others aren't. I think it's really important that we're doing the same as a school: making sure we're not just celebrating in October, because it is part of all of our history.

I think the fact that the campaign looks beyond players is really good. It is the people in the stands, it is the people doing the grass, it's everybody in it that has some part of Chelsea’s history. There have been things that I didn't realise as well. When we came with our students, we learned about different players and things they've done since Chelsea, and how they've gone off and worked in different areas, like Paul Elliott kicking racism out of football. I think that's really important.

Thinking about all of the ‘history makers’ who have paved the way across society from the Black community, who has been your biggest inspiration and why?

Valerie
My grandparents, who came over in the Windrush generation. I salute the fact that they gave up so much so that myself and all their descendants are given the chance they weren't. Sitting here today, celebrating what we're celebrating, I'm just sad that they're not alive to witness this, because this is an accolade, a milestone.

Leonie
Do you know what, before that day when we went with students, I didn't know much about Paul Elliott. And I have to say, I was very impressed with the history of what he's done. Especially being from a club with Chelsea’s history, to show how passionate he is about getting rid of racism within football. I think showing that there are careers after football as well was super impressive.

Valerie
I did an assembly on Monday about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, and they are prominent in history in paving the way and bringing about change, in a peaceful way. It’s really important, particularly when we think about today's society. Peace is so important.

Leonie
Outside of the UK for me as well is Marsha P Johnson, who for Black trans people has done so much amazing work, and with Stonewall. I think that's also something that we sometimes miss when we talk about one minority group, we forget others. It happens sometimes with feminism, it can forget people of colour. When we're talking about people of colour, sometimes it can forget people who are from the LGBTQ+ community. So, Marsha P rounds it all off for me.

What does it mean to you personally now to be chosen as a history maker?

Valerie
I'm incredibly proud. I was born 56 years ago in St. Stephen's Hospital, which was not far from here. So to come full circle, to be sitting here in the stands at Stamford Bridge, I'm so proud. Really proud. The fact that this falls within the week of Martin Luther King's birthday as well – it's something to celebrate.

Leonie
For me, something that is different being of mixed heritage, you forget different groups that you support or represent. As an educator, I mainly champion first of all kindness, but also LGBTQ+ rights. So, it's almost forgetting that actually, as a person of colour, I also champion that just by doing my job and making sure I am using my voice. Even being part of the senior leadership team: I know the statistics in the UK of being a person of colour within that. So, I think it is really important just to be seen sometimes. You don't always have to be shouting. It's because I'm a person of colour that doing things and pushing those boundaries is really important. You forget that you're even seen doing it sometimes.

That's really the thread that ties together all of our different history makers: the way they inspire others. That's why they've been selected, and that's why you've been selected. Leading on from that, during your time as an educator so far, is there any moment that stands out to you the most?

Valerie
One hundred per cent, I think post-George Floyd. I've been in education for 28 years, and I've seen nothing like what I've seen in the last couple of years. There is real change. I mean, there's been hints of it before, but there's now focus on anti-racist training, building anti-racist classrooms and schools, and the work going into that is immense.

So, as a parent and a grandparent, I feel hopeful that my grandson won't have to go through what my parents went through when they arrived here. What my brothers and I faced, or my son, who was a professional footballer for a long time, the racism that he had to go through – had to – to achieve his career. I feel that change is in the air, and I really welcome it. I'm hopeful for my grandchildren and great grandchildren to come.

Leonie
I think that's important, like you said, they had to go through that to have that career. Whereas now the difference is, we are making sure that when that happens, change is happening rather than just smiling and bearing it. That's similar as an educator, when things have gone on in the world, like with what happened with George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement: being able to talk to young people and hear that they want that change is really exciting.

There are times when you're not meant to be political at school, but actually it's really important. The teachers that you remember are the ones who made you think about the rest of the world, not just the stuff at school: they question you and think about your thoughts. I think those for me are the times when you look at your students and think, right, they care about this, and we're going to make a change. They’re the big moments.

What would you say that your greatest achievement has been?

Valerie
My greatest achievement? I look at my descendants. That’s a massive achievement, the fact that I have brought life into the world. I hope for them that their walk will be easier than mine was.

Leonie
I'd say two things. One is, like I said, being in the senior leadership team as a person of colour at my age has not been easy, but it's something that I am proud of. Also, my subject that I love – the reason that I started teaching is PSHE, and specifically, positive sex education. Having students who are usually quite shy, who can come and ask questions about their bodies, about things that have changed in them. I think that makes me think that I've made a difference when they can come and say, I'm not sure what's going on with this, or I want to make this decision about myself as I get older or my relationship. I think knowing that they can talk to somebody about that is what makes me proud.

Absolutely, and congratulations to both of you for those achievements. Leading on from that, how do you think educators can have a positive impact both in their classrooms and in the wider community?

Valerie
As well as being in the classroom, I also have an anti-knife crime charity. It's sad, I launched it because there were a number of boys whose funerals I had to attend. I was just fed up seeing this happen, and seeing no noise come from where it should be in the corridors of power. So, I've created this legacy for young people, and I merge it with school. It's a programme I've developed and deliver to Year 5s and 6s around many schools, because I feel empathy will come at primary school level. Again, if we want change, let's go with it before they're involved, before they're exposed to anything. I say to them, I'm old, you're young. This is your world; it belongs to you. And I really empower them with that.

Leonie
I don't think some people realise how important educators are, as a responsible and consistent adult in young people's lives, and how much you influence them. It is those little conversations that you have. It's having a chat on the playground, it's when you stay late after school. There are students that don't all have that support at home, they don't have somebody that they can talk about their day, or they don't have somebody that they can ask, ‘this is going on in the world, and I don't know how I feel about it’. I think that’s one of the biggest things. All it takes for some young people is one adult to make a difference in how they feel about themselves and the way that they move going forward. I think it's reminding adults how much you do that with the little things.

Valerie
That is so right. It is not about reading, writing, arithmetic, it is about relationships. I know, as a much older person, my teacher who I had a good relationship with, and all of what you've just said, I remember that more than my learning. It's so impactful.

What do you think the role of education is in making history?

Leonie
I think it's so important making them question things and giving them the tools. When I first started, I realised I couldn't just tell the kids my opinions, and hope that they all think the same as me. That was some learning for me as an adult.

What I try and do now is give them the tools to make that decision themselves, and I think that's why it's so important in making history because we want curious young people who are not going to take no for an answer. They want to find out more, they want to do better, and they're not just going to accept it. Like we said earlier about Paul Elliott and your brother, accepting that this is what football is, or this is what happens when racism happens. Actually, we want them to question that, and push against it. That's our job of making them curious.

Valerie
I'd like to see equity for all children – where every child can access education, and that can make a difference to their life. There are far too many children who will go through from reception, all the way through primary, secondary, further education, and still haven't accessed it, because they've not been given the opportunity to really access that. If the curriculum doesn't speak to them, it’s really not going in. So, I do long for that day where, like you said, we remove the Black history and it's just history. Nelson Mandela did say education is the key, and I want that for every child, not just some.