PlayMakers
Jointly funded by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers Association, Palace for Life Foundation PlayMakers now in its fourth year of delivery is about tapping into the skills and experience of CPFC fans to help the Foundation improve the lives of young people in south London.
A Palace for Life Foundation PlayMaker is any CPFC fan who volunteers their time and shares their experience to benefit the Foundation and the young people we support.
By harnessing the power of the Crystal Palace FC fan base, the PlayMakers programme is focused on utilising the time, networks and goodwill of volunteers to create opportunities for local young people. With over 480 hours of volunteering contributed already, opportunities have included hosting workshops, delivering talks and mentoring. We have an ever-growing network of over 40 PlayMakers. Read about them below.

Andrew Graham
Playmaker
Retired professional who possesses 28 years of experience with Barclays Bank internationally, and 11 years of experience working in Sutton Council’s housing department. He is on the Board of Trustees of Croydon Community Mediation, is the treasurer of Croydon Dyslexia Association and spends two days a week supporting administrative duties at Palace for Life Foundation.

Dave Moore
PlayMAKER
Senior Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs Manager at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, Dave has 10 years of experience in NHS communications and engagement, many of them in South London. Dave wants to share his experience of working for the country’s biggest employer on projects ranging from national campaigns, service change, internal and external communications, and media management.

Emma Wright
Playmaker
Senior Account Director at Hill + Knowlton Strategies, one of the biggest PR agencies in the world, where she leads international PR campaigns for Adidas in football and for Facebook’s virtual reality arm Oculus. She has also founded a new division of the agency H+K Better Impact which helps brands support social and environmental issues. Emma will be visiting children who are moving up to secondary school and helping them prepare for this big change.

Ross Lovelock
PlayMaker
Ross Lovelock is the founder of SCQuARE International a management consultancy company that has worked across the world in 86 countries and every industry specialising in strategic planning and story telling. Ross is a lifelong Palace fan seeing his first game when Palace beat Accrington Stanley 9-2 on the opening game of season 1960/61. Today his family are also life long season ticket holders.

Martin Tempia
Playmaker
A producer working in film, television and the theatre. He has been involved in a number of training initiatives in the TV industry and has a played a leading role in establishing a charitable trust to take over the governance of Crystal Palace Park where he serves as a trustee. He has been using his wide and varied social networks to connect the Foundation with other valuable PlayMakers like himself.

Neil Bennett
PlayMaker
Neil Bennett is a freelance journalist with a long reporting career at the BBC as a reporter and broadcaster. Neil got his first break in journalism thanks to a kindly editor at the Croydon Advertiser and has never forgotten that first opportunity. He aims to help others at the start of their working lives using his position as a PlayMaker with the Foundation.

Stephen Barton
Playmaker
Has worked as an IT Trainer for over 20 years at a range of professional services companies, creating engaging learning experiences in virtual or real-world training rooms and designing accessible user guides. More recently he is enjoying a role at global law firm Kennedys Law as an e-learning developer where he makes complicated software easy to understand by creating interactive online media. Stephen will be using his experience to support the Foundation and its beneficiaries.

Rhys Jones
Playmaker
Director at Blueberry Pictures, an award winning professional video production company with over 20 years experience in the film industry working with international companies, leading brands and a wide range of businesses in and around London. Rhys is helping produce promotional videos for Train Like a Pro soccer schools, engaging with both kids and coaches to exhibit the benefits of this youth initiative. As a qualified coach himself who runs a local junior team, Rhys appreciates the positive impact on both the kids and community that football can have.

Mark Silverstein
PlayMaker

James Allen
Playmaker
Director of Policy, Governance and External Affairs at the Sport and Recreation Alliance. James is passionate about the role that sport can play in tackling inequality and in making communities healthier, happier, more inclusive and more resilient. He is proud to support the great work of the Foundation in areas including political strategy and engagement, developing evidence of impact and communications.

Owen Brice
PlayMaker
Having worked in various communication roles in charities and the NHS, Owen now works in a group of schools for children with autism and social and emotional mental health needs. With a keen interest in photography, graphic design and the written word and a background in care giving, Owen is looking to share his skills and experience with the Foundation.

Jack Rowlands
PlayMaker
Inspector in the Metropolitan Police and lifelong Crystal Palace supporter, Jack has spent the majority of his 16 year policing career in Croydon and Lambeth focused on helping young people move away from crime and negative choices. In 2015 Jack founded the ‘DIVERT’ programme which steers young people that come into police custody onto positive pathways. In 2018 DIVERT started working closely with the Foundation and we now have a Custody Intervention Coach based directly in Croydon Police Custody Centre who helps young people who are arrested find employment, training and education by referring them onto programmes offered by the Foundation and other partners.

Scott Hart
PlayMaker
Having worked in the leisure business for 33 years, initially as a Lifeguard at South Norwood pool, Scott is now the General Manager of Croydon Sports Arena. He has worked with Palace Guard FC (Eagles ball boys) as a coach and also took part in the Marathon March in 2017 and 2018. Scott will be sharing his knowledge of the leisure industry to enhance the work of the Foundation.

Darren Amer
Playmaker
Customer experience and UX designer who has run design projects for companies such as Virgin Active, Money Saving Expert, Lord’s MCC, and P&O Cruises. Darren is a lifelong Palace fan who is supporting the Foundation by giving his advice with experience and design while unlocking the creative potential in the local area.

Paul Coen
Playmaker
Director of Paul Coen Wealth Management Ltd providing financial advice including investment, retirement, and tax planning. Paul offers bespoke advice to individuals and companies. He will be supporting the Foundation by delivering workshops to provide financial education for children, young adults and senior management.

Khalil Campbell
Playmaker
Qualified Social Worker of over 25 years with a specialism in safeguarding vulnerable children and young people, Khalil is currently Public Law Service Manager of the Children and Families Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) in South London. He has had a lifelong interest in working with vulnerable people and in social justice and has been a magistrate for over 10 years. Khalil is a season ticket holder at Crystal Palace and a qualified referee with Surrey FA. He will be supporting the Foundation by volunteering at events, organising educational access to the local courts, mentoring and advising on safeguarding issues.

Kevin Martin
Playmaker
Operations Director at Superunion, a next generation brand agency, Kevin also runs a local design consultancy, KM Design. A Palace fan for nearly 30 years, Kevin has worked as a steward at the club for 22 years. Having worked as a consultant for the Foundation since April 2017, he also volunteered a day of his time, producing on a range of design work to support Foundation programmes and events.

Lol Hammond
Playmaker
DJ and former Drum Club member who is the Music Supervisor for Vertigo films. Lol has been responsible for the soundtrack for a number of Sky productions including: Bullet Proof, Obey and Britannia. Other productions include Football Factory, The Business, Bronson, The Sweeney and many more. He will be working with our Premier League Kicks Community League programme giving participants, volunteers and coaches the opportunity to showcase the Kicks programme while giving those interested in media the chance to learn the skills necessary to put together a short documentary film.

Caroline Keefe
Playmaker
Group Pensions & Reward Manager for Synthomer plc, a specialities chemicals company and a FTSE250 PLC, Caroline enjoys the challenge of catering benefits to different nationalities and cultures. She previously served over 10 years on the Pensions Management Institute London Group Committee, spending some of that time as business secretary organising industry events for local pension professionals. Caroline is a keen sailor with an interest in health and wellbeing, and supports the Foundation by leading workshops and volunteering at events.

Julian Tucker
Playmaker
Senior Lawyer at Deutsche Bank with over 30 years’ experience in financial law. Julian is also a member of the Palace for Life Foundation’s Investors Club, a British archery coach and a singer in the East London Chorus. He will be supporting a range of programmes with his diverse skill set.

Dev Thakker
Playmaker
Junior Doctor, currently carrying out his surgical training in the South East. He has delivered motivational talks in schools for the Healthy Eagles programme and will support the community engagement team to continue to improve health and wellbeing in south London, as well as educate and make positive changes.

Craig Constantinides
Playmaker
Director of Go2Games, the Award Winning Croydon-Based Gaming Retailer. Craig has been using the power of his company to support the Foundation by sponsoring the Down’s Syndrome Eagles team and gifting gaming consoles to vulnerable young people and families who might be struggling to cope at home during the Coronavirus crisis.

Khalil Goddard
Playmaker
Secondary school headteacher and writer who has had work published in books, magazines, and on radio. Having lived in South London for 25 years, Khalil has developed an affinity with the local area and is a proponent of unlocking potential within the younger generation. He will deliver a series of creative writing workshops which will provide young participants with the support to produce an anthology of their works.

Dan Cudmore
Playmaker
Health Partnerships Manager at Cancer Research UK, Dan works with corporate partners such as Tesco to improve the health and wellbeing of the UK population and raise money for vital cancer research. With previous experience at Croydon Council and London Sport, Dan will be using his wealth of knowledge and expertise to support community organisations.

Pete Trainor
Playmaker
Author, Mental Health Campaigner and Co-Founder of Us Ai. Pete is a man on a mission-to bring design, data, Ai and technology together to empower humans to be happier and do more of what they’re good at. Pete champions mental health and, with his very simple philosophy: don’t do things better, do better things, will support the Foundation to get young people thinking about how they can use the skills they have to support their own mental resilience, and also support others.

Dave Burn
PlayMaker
Lifelong and third-generation Palace fan, Dave has over 35 years of Local Government experience and is now a consultant providing and training support to local authorities across the UK.
Whilst Dave was at the London Borough of Lambeth he worked successfully to develop links with the Council and the Foundation. Dave will use his experience to support the Foundation in any way he can, with a particular emphasis on coaching and mentoring.

Paul Tilley
PlayMaker
Recently retired from the Community Section of the London Fire Brigade. Prior to that Paul worked in international banking for over 40 years including living in Frankfurt, Germany. Paul loves sport and is a keen cyclist having participated in the London to Brighton Cycle ride 5 times. Paul is now keen to start volunteering for the Palace Foundation as he feels passionate about helping young people, sharing his experience and knowledge and enabling young people to access opportunities and have fun.

Vladi Dermendjieva
PlayMaker
Assistant Manager in Data Analytics at EY and a chartered accountant with the ICAEW, Vladi is currently supporting the digitization of the Audit practice at EY. Vladi is an active volleyball and football player and has a keen interest in personal wellbeing through sport, mental health and sport psychology. She is looking to support the Foundation by delivering workshops to help young people develop technical and soft skills that would help them with future employability.

Angus Robertson
Playmaker
Former Director of Operations at London Sport, Angus has committed his time to deliver a workshop on opportunities in the sport and leisure industry to participants of Palace for Life’s College Academy programmes at Bromley College, Carshalton High School for Boys and Harris South Norwood.

Chris Waters
Playmaker
Chief Financial Officer at the white space innovation consultancy Bow & Arrow. Chris has been a season ticket holder for over 20 years, writing for the match day programme and serving as a Board member with the Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust for 9 years. After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Chris has worked a number of finance roles at the likes of Sony Music and will be sharing career advice to young people on our Route to Employment programmes.

Darren Randon
PlayMaker
Poet and Co-Founder of Well Versed Ink, a community company that runs spoken word events and workshops, Darren is a qualified teacher who uses his experience working with young people excluded from school or who have experienced homelessness, to deliver workshops designed with the individual in mind. He has run sessions for the Foundation and recently wrote and recorded a song for the Club’s collaboration with BBC Super Movers.

David Goddard
Playmaker
Managing Director at iHasco Limited and a lifelong Palace fan & long term season ticket holder. David has 25 years of experience overseeing the creation of engaging video and animated content to help thousands of businesses train staff online in a wide range of subjects covering Health and Safety, HR and Compliance. David hopes to use both iHasco products and his knowledge and experience to support the Foundation.

Andrew Brown
PlayMaker
Chief Executive, of the Croydon BME Forum and with over 30 years of mentoring and training, Andrew Brown helps local organisations, with capacity building, fundraising, Training.
As a family man and trustworthy friend to many, he has kept close to the roots of his work by living in Croydon for over 25 years, alongside having worked with Palace For Life, for over a decade.
His specialism in mentoring and working with young people, focuses on helping them to get back into employment and training, if they have been faced with adverse situations in society.

Len Bennett
PlayMaker
Len has over 10 years of communications experience behind him including managing the press office at Nestlé and media relations at Network Rail for the Southern region. He currently works for Atos, a global leader in digital transformation. The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space and their services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach. He has lived in Croydon for over 40 years and hopes to use his skills and passion to empower young people to reach their potential.

Andy Street
Playmaker
Co-founder of popular Crystal Palace fanzine, the Five Year Plan podcast, as well as a solicitor at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, working as a litigator with a specialism in sports law cases – and has acted for a number of international footballers. Andy will use his experience to help on the Foundation’s schools programmes, speaking about how his school years shaped his future.

Sabirina Mohamed
PlayMaker
Undergraduate studying International Development at King’s College London with a passion for creative writing, Sabirina started her Palace for Life journey as a participant on a PlayMaker initiative which saw 20,000 copies of a special youth edition of The Thornton Heath Chronicle printed in July 2018. As a reward for her commitment to another PlayMaker led creative writing project, Sabirina also had a poem she wrote published in a CPFC match day programme. Sabirina wants to empower other young people, like she has been, with the incredible support of the Foundation.

Jack Snell
Playmaker
Teacher and running enthusiast. Jack has competed in marathons an ultra marathons all over the world. As an ex-running coach and physical trainer, Jack is looking to support the Foundation by encouraging fans to take on their own Palace for Life fundraisers and assist with any advice and tips along the way.

Chris Grant
PlayMaker
Sport England Board Member and former Charity CEO, Chris has led major projects in sport, retail, banking and other sectors. An expert in group dynamics and organisation development, Chris has been a tutor to coaches and leaders in Olympic and Paralympic sports as well as football. Chris will be using his vast experience to support the Foundation.

Sak Rafique
PlayMaker
Managing Director and Lead Executive Wellbeing Coach at ORANGE BALL. Sak combines his passion for sport, education and positive psychology to develop the mental fitness and wellbeing of individuals, groups and organisations. He has supported the Foundation by creating resources for the Team Mates programme and delivered training for Foundation staff in the areas of strengths, wellbeing and performance.

Jemma Lawley
Playmaker
Former Great Ormond Street Hospital nurse who has retrained as an athletics coach in order to align her lifelong interests in both health and sport. Jemma offers a huge amount of enthusiasm and an ever increasing athletic knowledge along with a great deal of experience of working with children and families across all socio-economic backgrounds in health and ill-health. Jemma will be supporting the delivery of the Healthy Eagles programme.

Tomi ‘Tazer’ Adenlé
Playmaker
DJ/self-taught Producer. Tazer was initially catapulted by breakout track ‘Wet Dollars’, crafted from a mess-around with production software at the start point of his career. With the infectious hip-hop/house anthem powering him to immediate worldwide reckoning, Tazer is a positive role model to young people across south London proving that the sounds he began cooking up in his bedroom, fusing his early hip hop influences with a love of house, could indeed cross over barriers of genre, language and location.

Steve Yewman
Playmaker
Development Director at Unibail Rodamco Westfield, responsible for the delivery of the £1.4bn regeneration project which will transform Croydon’s two main shopping centres into the retail and leisure destinations of South London. Steve has over 20 years’ experience working across property development, investment and management and for the past 10 years has been focused specifically on regeneration projects in Croydon and Wandsworth. He has partnered with the Foundation to support the PL Works programme which gives young people first-hand experience of the working world and provides an insight into the range of job opportunities.

Jan Podsiadly
Playmaker
A professional photographer and rock ‘n’ roll singer with a background in marketing and communications. Since giving up full-time employment as head of communications for a disability charity, Jan has become a Fellow of the RSA, indulged his passion for 50s music and plays with the Foundation’s Fitter Fans team. He will be supporting the Foundation primarily though photography for stock use and support for community projects.

Troy Townsend
PlayMaker
Troy Townsend is Kick It Out’s, football’s equality and inclusion campaign, head of development. Troy’s main responsibilities are the production and delivery of the organisations educational programmes into the professional academy structure, which includes players, staff and parents. Despite a prolific national brief and tireless work to promote inclusion and challenge discrimination across football, Troy always finds the time to support the Foundation, most recently hosting our Believe it Achieve it Conference aimed at inspiring and providing pathways for young people looking to develop a career in football.