British Esports launch "Safe to Play" esports campaign with EFL

27 December 2025

If you are involved with esports in the UK and a big fan of English football as well, then there is a considerable chance that you will come across “Safe to Play” over the coming months. For about eight weeks, “Safe to Play” will be the esports-focused campaign, designed and organised by British Esports in collaboration with the English Football League (EFL), with the goal of using esports to help young people build digital skills and stay safe online. For the first edition of the campaign, a total of ten football club charities is involved and depending on its success, it can be expanded across all 72 EFL-related clubs.

Focus on youth

The British youth is central to the new “Safe to Play” campaign by British Esports and the EFL. Through the charity arm that every EFL club runs, the goal is to use esports in the UK to promote and educate on digital inclusion. Every involved club will deliver a programme of weekly workshops and esports play sessions, for a period of between 6 and 8 weeks, depending on the club. By doing so, British Esports wants to combine practical digital learning for young people within the context of fun and safe environment.

“The Safe to Play campaign is an exciting and innovative way to support young people in our EFL Club communities”, explains Debbie Cook, Director of Community at the English Football League, “Using esports as a vehicle for digital inclusion, online safety, and wellbeing, we’re equipping disadvantaged young people with essential skills for the modern world.”

Government support

“Safe to Play” is not only organised by British Esports and the EFL, but also supported by the British government. The programme has been approved for funding by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) under the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, and it perfectly aligns with the new National Youth Strategy. That is a £ 500-million investment project designed to rebuild youth services in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the campaign supports the “Youth Matters” initiative aimed at tackling isolation among young people.

“We’re incredibly grateful to receive the Government’s support for this new Safe to Play campaign with the EFL”, says Chester King, President at British Esports, “This backing will allow us to work alongside Sheffield United’s Community Foundation and other partners to deliver vital digital skills and online safety training to young people through esports.”

Aiming for expansion

As we wrote earlier, the goal of the “Safe to Play” campaign is to involve all of the 72 member clubs of the English Football League. This includes the 24 clubs from the Championship, the 24 clubs from the League One, and the 24 clubs from the League Two. For the first edition of the campaign, ten clubs have been selected as partners. At this scale, the campaign is set to support over 400 young people build digital skills, confidence and the know-how to stay safe online.