Archive for month: May, 2022

The Foundation’s walking football is aimed at over 50s and/or anybody recovering from an injury, facilitated by a partnership with Locala, the sessions provide participants with the opportunity to meet new people, improve their physical fitness, and communicate their struggles.

The programme has had a huge influence on many lives, especially Sean Downey and Phil Jesney who together form part of a core group that was part of the first group to partake in the activity in 2020. Two years later, the pair still attend and the programme attracts on average 15 individuals compared to the original five.

Phil, pictured fourth from the left on the top row, explained how he initially became involved:

“After the COVID-19 pandemic I’d made a little list to myself of things I wanted to do, and one of them was Walking Football.

“I live on my own, so I wanted to get out and meet new people. I’ve made friendships and we’re now doing other activities outside the football!”

Sean, pictured bottom right, added:

“I’ve got fitter, I’ve made loads of friends and I’m enjoying football. We’ve also taken up fishing and started going for coffees as a group afterwards.

“We all come with our own burdens, but football allows us to forget them.”

The sessions are free to attend, and will continue to provide a fun, safe, open environment for all.

For many young people, finding employment is an arduous process at any time, but adding in a global pandemic made the whole task even more complicated. This is a statement that resonates with many, including Ruth Oldham and Chris Hall-Barnett, who both struggled to find any meaningful employment opportunities despite having high-level qualifications.

The lack of practical, real-world experience was the problem for both individuals. However, Mansfield Town in the Community was the outlet that provided both with opportunities to develop through their Kickstart scheme. The Kickstart programme aimed to help bring young people claiming universal credit, into the workplace.

Prior to her Kickstart role, Ruth studied a BTEC Level Two in Sport where she also gained her FA Level 1 Coaching qualification. With a huge passion for sport, Ruth immediately applied for the vacancy after stumbling across the position at her local job centre.

Ruth explained “I have always played, but it was great to get more involved in the coaching side of the game to add to my experience and knowledge.”

Like Ruth, Chris had also finished a sports qualification at college but felt the pandemic had caused him to lose direction of any employment opportunities. From the beginning, Chris expressed a desire to pursue a career in coaching, so when he was direct to Mansfield Town, it was a dream realised.

He said: “When I was on the college course, we did a lot of session plans, and I really enjoyed the process. I enjoyed standing in front of people and telling them how they could become better, helping everybody else.”

Both Chris and Ruth were individuals who were unsure of their futures and their employment prospects, but now both have secured full-time contracts at the Community Trust as coaches after impressing fellow coaches with their enthusiasm, dedication, and excellent rapport with the children.

15-year-old Wycombe fan Owen needed inspiration in his life – something to focus his energy on. A lifelong Wycombe Wanderers fan, Owen was one of 16 children chosen for a unique project with Buckinghamshire Council and Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust (WWSET) which targeted vulnerable children in Buckinghamshire.

Those chosen for the project have experienced significant challenges in their life and struggle with mainstream education. They risk falling into a vicious cycle of having no qualifications to find employment and gain skills, and experience and build self-esteem which serves to knock their confidence further and lessen the opportunities to find meaningful employment. This was true of Owen, his circumstance left him low in confidence and he just did not really know what the future had in store for him.

The project, a Pre-Apprenticeship in Football Coaching, worked in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council’s Virtual School which aims to raise the educational achievement and school attendance of children and young people in care, and who have left care. The course involved a coaching award designed specifically for the children. Participants were welcomed to the Adams Park stadium on a matchday and provided with interactive coaching workshops before getting to watch the Wanderers with their coaches and tutors throughout the season. As well as coaches, the children were visited by a number of Wycombe Wanderers players for a Q and A session around all things coaching.  For football fan Owen, this is a dream opportunity, and it ignited a passion in him. He could now see a way forward, something to work towards and had a way to channel his energy.

Owen was then able to put his new coaching knowledge into practise by coaching within his community. Owen excelled in this environment, admitting that just a few weeks ago he would never have imagined being able to do. Since finishing the course, Owen continues to focus his energy on football coaching and developing other young people – he has taken up a voluntary coaching position with the Trust and has agreed to mentor the next phase children on the programme.

He said: I really enjoyed the course. It brought under 18’s together to build up their skills in coaching and communicating. This helped me to become a more civilised person and I was delighted when they asked me back as a junior coach.”

For Owen, the course was about far more than just the coaching knowledge gained. The course was about building confidence and self-esteem and showing him that there is an alternative way to learn, outside the classroom.

Maria Seth, of The Virtual School in Buckinghamshire, she said;

“On behalf of the Virtual school I would like to say it has been a joy to see the confidence increase in the young people involved and friendships formed which have been so beneficial to them all. Feedback from parents and carers has been overwhelmingly positive and we cannot wait to do the next project alongside WWSET with key stage 2 children from September.”

Stephen McNeil first attended Ayresome Park in 1967 with his dad and has been a Middlesbrough fan ever since. However, at this first outing, it was yet to be known how powerful the Boro badge would be for Stephen.

Stephen was on his own, and his life had spiralled out of control when he had a complete mental breakdown with emptiness and a lack of purpose.

“I’d gone, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t walk, nothing made sense,” he openly admits.

“I think I was put in a padded cell and visited by people trying to figure out what to do, how to help.

“I had no contact with friends or family, I was on my own and in a dark place,” he openly admits. “I had no-one to talk to, no sense of perspective, I didn’t know what to do anymore.”

Then the red of the Boro badge ignited a spark inside Stephen after noticing a poster advertising a trip to Ayresome Park, the place Stephen loved, where his lifelong club had created so many memories for him.

He explains: “ [The badge] helped me remember there was something in life that I wanted to do, there was no trip, it was a placebo and it worked, I had shown there was still something inside me and was allowed to go.”

Stephen owns two dogs but has little else in the way of company but once again the association with red and Boro changed his circumstances once more. He saw a Middlesbrough Foundation poster advertising a range of programmes hosted by the Foundation; Team Talk mental health session, Walk and Talk and Walking Football.

Stephen got involved in all three programmes. He said: “The power of the badge, the colour, that distinctive red and the work of the Foundation. All this has helped me massively.”

Middlesbrough and their Foundation have created a whole new pathway for Stephen powered from hope, support and inclusion.