Ceylon Andi Hickman

Ceylon Andi Hickman is an underdog who works to advocate for other underdogs.

As the Head of Impact and Female Participation at Football Beyond Borders, Ceylon has designed a specific programme for girls that provides disadvantaged, ‘at risk’ girls with a safe space to explore their emotions, build trusted relationships, engage in their education and develop a love for football.

Football Beyond Borders is an organisation that uses football to bring change in the lives of young people. When Ceylon started, there were only 16 girls in the programme. Today, there are hundreds.

Underdogs are expected to lose but instead, they lean on their self-trust and hard won experiences to envision and fiercely assert new realities. Ceylon embodies this by her work with FBB as well as her position on the Step Up to Serve: a national campaign to increase the number of young people engaging in social action as well as playing a role in organisational structures. She is also a member of the Together Campaign Steering Committee, a national campaign which aims to bring people together and bridge divides, to help build a kinder, closer and more connected country.

Ceylon is a lifelong Liverpool fan and a regular pundit on The Guardian Football Weekly podcast.

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