Blue Square Bet South club Boreham Wood Football Clubs community department has been awarded a grant from the newly established football conference community club development fund.
This gives the club a major impetus in engaging with local schools, supporting staff within the curriculum, coaching football skills and promoting Boreham Wood FC as a community club.
The community club development fund is a partnership between the football conference, the premier league and the professional footballers’ association. Both the premier league and the PFA have committed to contribute £400,000 each to the fund in this first year. The scheme is open to members of the football conference premier, north and south divisions. Each club can apply for up to £12,000 in this first year.
Boreham Wood FC officials are delighted to see their community work recognised and thrilled to achieve a successful grant bid. They would like to place on record their thanks to the Premier League, PFA and of course The Football Conference League.
The areas Boreham Woods community department have been developing, are:
- To employ a community manager part time and employ a community coach full time. This is to specifically assist the club in its work with all our participating local primary schools, and to further raise awareness of the clubs ongoing community programme to the other local schools.
- To offer FREE football Coaching to local primary schools during their curriculum time. This the club believes, will also help the teachers and the schools in our community.
- To offer FREE specialist goalkeeping coaching, to local school teams, again as part of our community programme.
- To offer FREE BWFC season tickets (home league games only), to all local primary schools and local primary school children. Which the club believes can only have a positive effect.
- To ensure that the BWFC Medical Department, make themselves available to offer parents or guardians, free advice for their children on: nutrition, injury prevention and treatment of sports injuries. Furthermore, the club will produce fact sheets and booklets FREE of charge, with the relevant information to assist with the parents & guardians awareness.
- To produce quarterly, a FREE full colour 4 page newsletter to all local primary schools for their school children, detailing the clubs community programme, initiatives and club offers.
Billy Hunter, Boreham Wood Football Clubs PASE Manager said “This grant is a welcome boost for the clubs community programme. Football is a great way to help all children’s development. It teaches them the benefits of a healthy sporting lifestyle and by using our physios, our first team players and our academy coaches to deliver that message, we believe our community programme, will make a difference to local youngsters in a positive way”.
Gordon Taylor OBE, PFA chief executive commented “we at the PFA are very pleased to extend our financial support to the football conference clubs and trust that their players will embrace the concept that they can harness their potential and develop club community activities in education, health, social inclusion and equality and help make a difference! “
Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League said “The Premier League and our member clubs recognise the importance of the continued health of football outside the football league and it is with this in mind that we have made this commitment to the football conference.”
Chairman of the Football Conference, Brian Lee said of the new partnership funding “we do not underestimate the important part football has to play in helping local people improve their lives – through sport, volunteering and education. This fund has allowed Boreham Wood Football Club to develop a very worthwhile project, one which will improve the life chances of those involved.”
Boreham Wood’s Community manager, Loretta Browne, said “Our Chairman has alongside the PFA, Premier League and Football Conference invested heavily in our programme. He wants our Coaches, our Medical Department and the Community Department, to engage positively with local people and local schools. He wants us to assist the schools and deliver free quality coaching sessions to the children, with an emphasis on teamwork, club awareness and skills development. Our Club has worked hard to ensure we are part of a pioneering scheme, supported by the Football Conference, the Premier League and the Professional Footballers Association and this acknowledgement will give us the confidence to continue our progress, as we strive to move the club forward”.
If anymore local schools wish to become part of the Boreham Wood Football Club Community Scheme, please contact Loretta at the club on 020 8953 5716.
