Adobe and Bloomsbury Football Foundation want to show girls that football is a creative space too

There's a stat in Adobe's new research that's hard to ignore: 65% of parents would sign their son up for a football holiday camp, but only 47% would do the same for their daughter. That stubborn yet entirely changeable gap is exactly what a new partnership between Adobe and Bloomsbury Football Foundation aims to close.

The initiative is called Kick & Create, and it's a series of girls-only football camps for ages six to 16, taking place in the London boroughs of Camden and Islington during school holidays over the next two years. What makes them different isn't just that they're girls-only spaces (though that matters enormously), it's that each camp combines on-pitch football coaching with off-pitch creative workshops using Adobe Express, where participants can design posters, create videos, build football shirts, and more.

The thinking behind it is straightforward but smart. Adobe's research found that girls' interest in attending football camps jumps threefold when creative elements are part of the programme. Watching the Lionesses has clearly had an effect, too – nearly half of the girls surveyed said it has increased their interest in playing. The camps are being heavily subsidised to ease the financial pressure that 88% of UK parents say they feel when trying to find structured activities for their daughters during school holidays.

Simon Morris, Vice President International Marketing at Adobe, sums up the ambition behind it: "Creativity is in all of us, and football is part of the fabric of British culture. Bringing those two things together is what sets this initiative apart. We want to make sure that girls can see the impact they can make in all areas of football, both on the pitch and in every creative role that surrounds it."

Former England and Arsenal footballer Karen Carney is involved too, and she's put it even more personally: "I was once the only girl at my football camp. It was tough. That's why I know how much it matters to have a space that genuinely feels like it was made for you."

Alongside the camps, Adobe has launched a public creative competition called Fan Made that's worth knowing about. Using Adobe Express, anyone can submit a pattern design to be featured on the kit worn by Bloomsbury Football Foundation player escorts at the Adobe Women's FA Cup Final. For every design submitted, Adobe will donate £10 to the Foundation to fund additional camp places. Karen Carney has already teamed up with young people from Bloomsbury to design the official Adobe mascot for the Final.

It's a neat idea: a campaign that puts creative tools directly in the hands of young girls, shows them the breadth of roles within football, and expands access in the process.