Always on
This project successfully funded on 1st January 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 1st January 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Free, alcohol-free festival uniting football, arts & wellbeing, showcasing local projects and creating pathways into sport & creative work.
Our Pitch is a free, alcohol-free community festival in Exeter where football, the arts and wellbeing all meet on common ground.
We want to bring together people who wouldn’t normally end up in the same space – football fans, healers, creatives, families, newcomers to the area, people who feel on the margins – and give everyone a real way to join in.
As well as being a festival day, and showcasing the brilliant work that’s already happening in the area, Our Pitch is about creating pathways into the arts, wellbeing and football industries – opening doors for people who might not usually see a way into those worlds.
A lot of my life has led to this project. I’ve worked for a community development charity in Exeter. I’ve lived in wellness-focused communities in Italy. I’ve volunteered through football with refugees in Berlin and with Aboriginal communities in outback Australia. I’ve been a performing artist and musician since I was a child.
All of that has cemented one belief for me: when you bring wellbeing, creativity and physical activity together, it does something powerful for people. It helps us feel connected, confident and human again. That’s what Our Pitch is about.
Over the last year I’ve been doing almost everything for Our Pitch on my own – building the website, writing policies and site safety plans, talking to partners, starting the social media and trying to pull all the pieces together in my spare time, alongside other work and commitments. The vision is strong, the partnerships are growing, but I’ve reached the point where I can’t grow this without some extra support.
The great news is that Exeter City Community Trust are on board and will be delivering a lot of the football in-kind – coaching and tournaments on the day. Music in Devon Initiative (MIDI) are helping shape the music and creative side, Shumba Arts are bringing community drumming and dance, and the University of Exeter is supporting us through its community and engagement work.
Our partners are contributing their time, skills, networks and in-kind delivery rather than direct funding. This crowdfunder is about building the cash pot that sits around that support and makes the whole festival – and follow-on activities – possible.
This crowdfunder will help us to:
Fund some project coordination time, so it isn’t just one person trying to do everything in their spare time.
Cover insurance and essential safety costs that every event needs, but which never show up in the photos.
Run our social media, promotional materials and outreach, so people who don’t usually hear about events like this actually know they’re invited – especially communities facing barriers to taking part.
Deliver arts, drumming and wellbeing activities on the day, alongside the football, so there’s something meaningful for everyone.
Make the festival more accessible, with things like quiet spaces, sign language interpreters, wheelchair access and clear signage.
Provide free or low-cost workshops and training after the festival – in football, creative arts and basic event skills – so people can stay involved and keep learning all year round, not just for one day.
In short: Exeter City Community Trust, MIDI, Shumba Arts and the University of Exeter's Community Exe programme are helping us build the core of this project with their time and expertise. You’re helping us fund everything around it – and keep the impact going long after the festival packdown.
If you believe in football, creativity and wellbeing as forces for good, and you’d like to see a truly inclusive, alcohol-free, community-led festival in Exeter, that offers free pathways for those in need, please back Our Pitch however you can. Every contribution and every share genuinely helps 🙏
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made