Our trip to Spain – Luke Chadwick

What a trip!

In last week’s blog I spoke about my excitement about our trip over to Spain as a Head Office team and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It really was an inspiring few days in the sun which has left the team refreshed and rejuvenated to attack the rest of the year which is set to be epic with so much going on at The FFF. We most definitely crammed lots of work into the trip and the change of scenery and weather definitely helped!

On arrival we filmed some epic content with Oli and Adam which I’m sure you’ll see plenty of in the coming weeks as the guys documented all that we got up too. We had a lovely meal and took time to discuss various parts of the business and what the next few days would look like. Day 2 started with a podcast in the sun filmed by Oli and Adam with the support of super Darryl Coakley after he received a crash course on using the gimble!!

The temperature was very warm and I did feel a bit for James donning the judges wig for James Court but he got through it in exemplary fashion if a little sweaty towards the end! In this episode we talked about England’s chances of winning the Euro’s and my point to argue was a little outrageous to say the very least. But during the sensible side of the discussion we were all in agreement that this could finally be the year that football comes home…………… Here’s hoping!!

In the afternoon we had a meeting of business updates from James and Jonny which was both inspiring and exciting as the guys gave us plenty of information that really got the pulse racing. One piece of news about a new addition to the Head Office team joining us in the coming months had the whole team absolutely buzzing. Unfortunately I can’t give any further details on this at the moment other than they are a massive superstar!

In the evening I led a workshop on self-development where I endeavoured to create a safe environment for the team to share both success and challenges and speak to each other about how we can support each other. I was so proud of the whole team showing vulnerability and empathy to each other and how much trust there was in the room. I came away from it feeling I knew the guys even better and the strength of the team unit even stronger.

On Monday morning we worked in our villa as normal with Jonny having his normal 1-1 meetings with everyone in a very different setting on the roof terrace, after a little too much sun on my bald head I decided to work indoors catching up on plenty of admin. In the afternoon we had a meeting about the fast-approaching Football Fun Factory Franchise conference and went over plans of what will be delivered when we welcome our team of Head Coaches to Sherwood Forest Center Parcs in July for what’s set to be a very special day.

And on Tuesday we travelled home getting through passport control just before the system collapsed which was a massive relief! All in all it was a wonderful trip away with colleagues that I consider friends. We had a brilliant time together and further developed the Head Office culture. I couldn’t be more grateful to be part of this team and also the wider team, the biggest thing I took away was no matter how much we grow at the heart of everything is giving children the opportunity to play football in an inclusive pressure-free environment, developing positive life skills with fun at the forefront of every session.

Check out the full video from our trip below!