All roads leading to Ghana at the moment for Charlton football star Freda

Charlton Athletic Women footballer Freda Ayisi has been called up to the Ghana Black Queens squad for an upcoming 2024 Olympics qualifier against Zambia on Friday.

And it represents another source of great pride for the 29-year-old, who recently visited her homeland as an ambassador for international children’s charity World Vision to catch up on the work being done there by the organisation.

During her time there, she met local children, challenging them to do more keepie-uppies than her, and also participated in after-school reading clubs, cooking classes for mothers, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programmes.

Freda was born in Ghana but grew up in England, becoming an accomplished professional footballer. She is also a content creator, with a social following that has amassed hundreds of thousands of fans, including former Arsenal and England legend Ian Wright, who has been more than impressed by her skills.

Driven to inspire others as she has been, Freda was keen to see for herself the health and nutrition programmes supporting mothers with malnourished children.

Nutrition is the focus of World Vision’s global campaign, ENOUGH, which revealed a £2.7billion commitment across three years to provide solutions to the global hunger crisis.

Freda said: “Football has been a passion of mine ever since I first kicked a ball as a kid with my brothers, but I am also passionate about inspiring children and making a difference.

“I have fond memories of Ghana so it’s great to return as a World Vision ambassador and meet the local communities and play some football with the kids, teaching them about my journey.

“I was inspired from a young age, and I hope that I can pass that on and inspire other children too. The beauty of football is it is a universal sport that can also bring people together.”

Speaking in Ghana, having visited a World Vision supported health clinic, Freda added: “Just listening to how much it’s reduced the health risks in Ghana and it being the main healthcare in the district for the community where we’re staying is amazing, because that’s the healthcare that World Vision built as well.”

Pictured top: Freda Ayisi demonstrates some of her skills to attentive children in Ghana (Picture: World Vision)