You’d be hard pressed to find someone on Teesside that couldn't recognise the Middlesbrough Football Club badge.
For generations, the club - and its crest - has been intertwined with the history of town and its fiercely passionate residents.
But behind that red lion lies much more than just 150 years of football history; the power to change the lives of thousands.
For the last three decades, Middlesbrough FC Foundation has been using that power to break down barriers and save lives across Teesside.
Many may think the foundation is solely about football, but in reality, things are much different.
From cancer pre-habilitation and knife crime workshops to tea dances for people with dementia, the charity is every day working to “inspire hope and transform lives”.
For chief executive officer Charlotte Dinsdale, it’s about using the badge to “leverage conversations” and “break down barriers for people from all walks of life”.
Charlotte Dinsdale (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
“There's still such a strong misconception that we are just about football,” she said. “That's a tiny proportion of what we do.
“Yes, you might see football, but we've got other multi-skills and multi-sport sessions going on."
Charlotte first started working at the charity in 2004, taking on a variety of roles before leaving in 2015 to work for EFL in the Community, the charitable arm of the English Football League.
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
The 42-year-old re-joined as the head of the foundation in June 2025, with the charity now running 25 to 30 programmes for kids as young as six to pensioners in their 90s and beyond.
Mayor Chris Cooke opening the new centre on Friday (July 17). (Image: MFC Foundation)
The complex, which boasts a grass pitch, outdoor 3G pitch, and a community hub, has been built on the land of the former Southlands Centre, which shut in 2018.
And Charlotte, who grew up in Ingleby Barwick and now lives in Eaglescliffe, said it will long serve communities, with a major 25-year lease.
But there is no hiding that there are challenges facing communities in Middlesbrough and nearby areas, be it crime or unemployment.
In recent months, the town has been the centre of a media storm following the tragic A66 crash that took the lives of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, as well as five others.
Charlotte thinks the repercussions of this incident, amongst other issues in the area , are felt: “The things that happened a matter of weeks ago were absolutely horrendous and I think we felt that here.
Charlotte Dinsdale (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
“The course of those events were known to us through a number of our different programmes, so that's impacted the staff, the team, but that makes them want to do more.
“We all know that Middlesbrough gets a really bad reputation with leader boards we don't want to be at the top of.
“What we try to do is just give people hope. Where we need to come in [is with a] place that is actually giving people an opportunity that can unlock their potential.”
“In our strategy, we talk about raising aspirations. I don't always agree with that because it suggests that people from Teesside aren't aspirational.
“I think if we give people opportunities, we can help them reach their potential.”
‘Without MFC Foundation, I could’ve ended up in a jail cell’
For Billy Llewellyn, from South Bank, football has been intertwined with his life.
Every half-term without fail, he’d be at football camps - but despite having the ball at his feet throughout his childhood, his love for the game began to slip away.
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
By the time he was 18-years-old, he found himself “in a rut” with his mental health, something that was then worsened by the Covid pandemic.
But not long after restrictions were lifted, he was invited down to the foundation’s Think With Your Feet’ session, which sees men meet, play football, and discuss their mental health.
Fast forward several years and Billy has completed an apprenticeship and is working on a sports and coaching degree, while working 30 hours a week with the foundation.
But things could have been very different, the 24-year-old admits.
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
"If I didn't go down there, God knows where I'd be right now,” he said.
“I had a lifestyle from 14-years-old of being around drugs and violence, especially around our area in South Bank and Grangetown.
“There's a lot of my friends who are in jail, that was the lifestyle back then.
“If I didn't go to that first session, I'd probably be in a jail cell with one of my friends. It is brutal, but it is the honest truth.”
Billy, now in the second year of his university course, has spent the last two years going into school to work with children as well as working on a healthy eating and exercise programme.
And Billy, who also now coaches teams at Linthorpe Academicals and Boro Rangers, truly believes the foundation has changed his life.
“From being nine-years-old this has had an impact on me,” he said.
“I probably didn't realise that at the time, but there was a reason why I kept going back and going to those camps.”
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
Billy is another member of the foundation who has seen first hand the so-called power of the badge and its impact upon school kids.
“As soon as I walk into school, it's Boro, Boro, Boro,” he said.
“‘Do you work with the players?’ You get all these types of questions. Sometimes we go along with it and say: ‘Yes, I can get you scouted!’
"But it's class seeing the kids' faces change.
A community event at MFC Foundation (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
“You can get told loads of stories about these kids being the worst class in the school. As soon as you go in, they are good as gold, because you’ve got the kit on.”
He said going to that session has had a spiral effect on his life: “I wouldn't change it for the world. I love getting up on a Saturday and Saturday morning, and coaching them."
Billy is one of around 20 studying the foundation degree, which the charity works with the English Football League (EFL) in the Community and the University of South Wales to provide.
Life-changing health bus and cancer treatment
One of the Foundation’s major projects is its new cancer prehab programme, which works with patients to improve their physical fitness ahead of recovery from treatment.
The charity hosts two “tailored and adaptable” sessions a week - and it's not just benefiting physical health but mental health too.
MFC Foundation's cancer prehabilitation workshop (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
It is already having a real impact on the NHS - and despite only being launched in January, the programme has saved the health service more than £207,000.
The Foundation has also genuinely saved lives with its 21-seat health bus, which operates with the NHS to run basic health checks.
MFC Foundation's cancer prehabilitation workshop (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
It was this bus where Steven Theaker, who works as a people care consultant for TSG at AV Dawson, found he had dangerously high blood pressure and glucose levels.
“The consultant said if I didn’t get it treated anytime soon, I was so close to a stroke,” he said. “Now, I’m on insulin to bring down those levels.
“I should have done it sooner. The symptoms were there. I’m not being melodramatic, but this bus has saved my life.”
With knife crime rates on Teesside consistently ranking among the highest in the UK, the charity has also held sessions with 2,012 youngsters about the dangers of carrying a weapon.
MFC Foundation anti knife crime workshop (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
Other projects include Kicks, bringing young people together through football with free after school sessions, funded by the Premier League Foundation.
“There's sort of varying levels,” former Middlesbrough Women player Charlotte said.
“If you want to take it a bit more seriously, we do coaching options, we've got our community hall as well, which we run a youth club.
A Kicks social inclusion workshop (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
“We've recently got some funding to get an interactive sports wall, which is going to be fixed up into the hall, which will give us 200 different educational, fun games.”
MFC Foundation also has an employability programme called Bright Lights, working with Teesside Park owners British Land to get people into employment.
Sessions are also held for people with Parkinson’s or dementia, which not only helps those with the illness but their family, who can have some well-needed respite and recharge.
A dementia dance at MFC Foundation (Image: MFC FOUNDATION)
‘We are on our own two feet’
Despite the badge being one of the charity’s biggest strengths, Charlotte feels people may also assume that it means the Foundation is funded by the club.
“People think we've got megabucks and everything comes from the club,” she said.
“We are on our own two feet. We're able to use the club's assets, so we can run things at the stadium and get some memorabilia, signed shirts, all that kind of stuff, which is great.
“But we are definitely self-sufficient and self-sustaining.”
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
So what is next?
Charlotte wants to strip back programmes so that they have more impact: “I think the first couple of years is very much around this particular area.
Middlesbrough FC Foundation's Southlands Centre (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)
“I think over time it is expanding into other areas of Teas Valley, so absolutely having conversations with the likes of Stockton.
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“We do a few programmes over in Stockton and we want to make sure that we're able to expand our reach over there.
“There is also potential for growth and expansion of this facility.
“There are plans that we're able to expand here, which gives more opportunities for people to come down and really benefit from this amazing facility.”