Despite the bitter cold snap, nothing was going to stop these wannabe Sam Kerrs and Lauren Jameses from blazing the trail at Kingsmeadow as Chelsea launched a new drive to broaden footballing opportunities for schoolgirls.

Marking International Women’s Day, 400 girls from schools including Our Lady Immaculate, Grand Avenue, Hollyfield, Surbiton High and Christ Church took part in Chelsea Foundation’s Nothing Stops Us event – the first fun football activity day in a series encouraging 5,000 girls to take part every year.

We want to be footballers like Sam Kerr when we grow up!       All pictures courtesy Chelsea FC

The club’s coaching staff volunteered to help and were joined by Blues ambassadors Claire Raffery (who made more than 100 appearances at left back for the Blues) and Katie Chapman (who helped secure the Blues’ first major trophy as a midfielder).

Claire is at the back of the main picture, with Katie on the right.

The launch event was staged ahead of the Chelsea Women v Brighton match, to which all participating girls were given tickets.

As one of the day’s activities, the girls pinned messages to a wall, sharing their hopes and dreams about the sport.

Sample: I support International Women’s Day, to give everyone a chance.

Also taking part were girls from King’s Oak, Corpus Christi, Castle Hill, Green Lane, Tiffin Girls, Chessington School, Kingston Academy, Grey Court, The Study School, St Agatha’s, St Paul’s, Malden Manor and Malden Parochial.

As well as doing training drills and getting health and wellbeing tips (courtesy of Kingston Mind), the girls had talks about female empowerment before each was given a sports bra by Nike.

Pinning messages of hope on the wall helped the girls focus their thoughts

Chelsea FC Foundation already works to expand women’s opportunities in football via female-focused programmes in colleges.

Foundation head Simon Taylor explained: “This is the largest commitment of this kind ever made by a football club. We’re proud to be leading the way, and grateful for the support of the club in making this happen.”

He said that the long-term aim was to guide more young girls into the sport, helping them to take their first steps in football and encouraging them to join local clubs.

Dan Burrows from Nike added that he felt it was vital to remove cultural, social and economic barriers to participation “to create an active next generation , and a healthier and more equitable future for all”.

More young hopefuls from the Surbiton area at Kingsmeadow

It was warmer inside the Kingsmeadow complex

Joining Claire Rafferty in a kickabout on one of the training pitches at the Kingsmeadow ground