Latics Deliver PPE to Care Homes and Hospices

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Wigan Athletic have delivered 2,000 facemasks to Care Homes and Hospices with  money raised from Latics’ academy, supporters and players

Wigan Athletic Community Trust have this week been out distributing 2,000 facemasks to care homes, hospices and other organisations thanks to the donations from the Wigan Athletic Academy, the club’s supporters and first team players.

So far, over £2,000 has been raised to provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to many organisations across Wigan.

Chris Durnan, Manager of Ash Tree Care Home Hindley, who received a delivery of masks, said: “A big thank you to Wigan Athletic for the kind donation. It’s heart-warming to know we are being thought about by so many different people in the current pandemic. Thank you especially to Wigan Athletic Community Trust for thinking of us and delivering the vital PPE to us in these difficult times.”

Wigan Athletic’s involvement in the initiative began when first team player Danny Fox donated to the initiative organised by his former Nottingham Forest teammate Dexter Blackstock to provide more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline staff.

Fox delivered hundreds of items of PPE to care homes and hospices in his local area.

Latics supporters then continued to back the campaign via donations with the support quickly raising £1,000 before Wigan Athletic’s academy staff and players topped those donations up by backing academy strength and conditioning coach Mark Stone to row a marathon in his back garden, via donations.

Wigan Athletic’s executive chairman, Darren Royle, said the unity of club staff and supporters to make such a significant donation makes him immensely proud.

“Firstly, I would like to thank everybody who has donated to this cause; we know the 2,000 facemasks will be genuinely appreciated and the staff that have been delivering the masks have spoken of the gratitude from all of the recipients.

“This is a perfect show of the unity required to thrive in the situation we are presented with. First team players, academy staff, staff across all different areas of the club and supporters have come together to donate to this cause.

“The excellent Wigan Athletic Community Trust have been out delivering these masks – thanks to the support of one of our long-term partners Westwood Motor Group – in a safe and responsible manner and I couldn’t be more proud that our people continue to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our community during this challenging time.”

How you can get involved?

  1. Donate as little as £1 to donatetonhs.com
  2. Follow up your donation with an email to [email protected] stating either ‘Wigan’ or ‘Wigan Athletic’ to ensure your contribution is ring-fenced to Wigan and local organisations.
  3. Share with your friends and family and encourage everyone to donate just £1 to the cause!

“The feeling of helping your local community when they need it the most is priceless.”

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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic the EFL Trust and its network of Community Club Organisations have quickly adapted, identifying ways to make sure we can keep supporting our communities and reaching out to those in need.

One of those ways has been through volunteering. We are so proud that some of our staff have risen to the challenge and taken their time to volunteer in their communities. Never has there been a more important time to utilise the ability of the Football Club badge to enhance and improve people’s lives.

Read EFL Trust Performance Management Partner, Claire’s story below:

Claire’s volunteering story:

I have been volunteering with MFC Foundation to support Community Integrated Care (CIC) to help recognise the huge efforts being given by their staff on the frontline.

CIC is a national social care charity which works with both adults and children with learning difficulties, physical disabilities mental health and autistic spectrum disorders in addition to those that have age related needs and dementia.

They really wanted to show their staff that they appreciate them, however all the service users they work with are high risk and during this pandemic it has been impossible to go out to every single centre and thank everyone individually.

I worked with nine other people, some MFC Foundation staff and some other volunteers from the local community to help deliver thank you packages to all the CIC staff working tirelessly across the North East.

Even better, I got lucky and managed to deliver to areas of Sunderland and Newcastle whilst wearing Middlesbrough kit (this was a challenge in itself!).

Honestly, I would encourage anyone to do some sort of volunteering as it has been so rewarding.

Staff were in tears that their employers had done something nice for them, some enjoyed just talking about their families and interests and some of the services users were so happy just having someone different to wave to through the window.

It can be something big or small but the feeling of helping your local community when they need it the most is priceless.

#EFLCommunities

Thousands of children and families will benefit from EFL Trust’s and Ferrero’s Joy of Moving Home School Festival

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On International Day of Families, EFL Trust and Ferrero UK are launching the ‘Joy of Moving Home School Festival’, a full afternoon of home school activities and games to get children and their families moving and having fun.

Following the launch of the new online Joy of Moving Resource Hub, the Home School Festival will be delivered by 73 EFL Trust network Club Community Organisations and at a time when children are unlikely to experience the fun of their school sports day this year or missing play time with their friends, will offer children and families an afternoon of movement and fun with different games and activities to choose from.

The Joy of Moving programme, a Ferrero CSR project, has been supporting Year 5 children across EFL Communities in the UK for the past 6 years. The Joy of Moving programme has consisted of two elements; the Move & Learn programme and Joy of Moving Festivals. Over 310,000 children have been introduced to moving and learning new skills, all while having fun and playing.

Mike Evans, Chief Executive at EFL Trust said;

“We are delighted to bring the Joy of Moving Home School Festival to thousands of households across the UK. So many children will miss out on their Sports Day and our festival should offer fun whilst also keeping children active during these times.”

Our network of Club Community Organisations have been doing some amazing work in response to Coronavirus, and this is another way in which football is supporting the community and reaching families in all regions of the country.”

Charlie Cayton, Director of Corporate Affairs and communications, Ferrero UK said;

“We have had a strategic partnership with the EFL Trust for many years delivering our corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects the Joy of Moving Move & Learn and Festivals. We have swiftly worked with EFL Trust to adapt the programme to share our simple and fun unbranded games with parents and teachers, that give ideas on how to get kids moving through play. This includes a freely accessible resource hub for everyone. We are really excited to see the Joy of Moving Home School Festival in action.”

The games and activities are based on the unique Joy of Moving methodology, developed by Ferrero with key independent parties including Foro Italico (Rome University) and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). This methodology inspires children to move through play across the world, whilst developing key skills in four major areas: physical fitness, motor coordination, cognitive functions and creativity and life skills.

The Joy of Moving Home School Festival will begin next week. Keep a look out for schools taking part and showing how they are having fun with the Joy of Moving online by following #JOMHomeFestival or to find more fun games to play visit www.joyofmovingresourcehub.co.uk.

“I really enjoyed bringing happiness and positivity at such a difficult time.”

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A group of teenagers from Blackburn have started a campaign to support supermarket staff during lockdown. The #SOS (Support our supermarkets) was born through Blackburn Rovers Community Trust’s Youth Board, a group of young people that have taken part in the NCS Programme and are passionate about making positive change in the community.

The idea of the campaign was to spread some joy through acts of kindness to the supermarket staff and security. The group recognised the dedication and importance of supermarket staff and so with small gifts and kind messages they hoped to lift their spirits and show their appreciation of their work.

Blackburn’s Youth Board usually meet monthly to catch up and plan their social action projects and ordinarily these were planned face to face at Ewood Park, however the #SOS campaign offered an additional challenge with lockdown. To overcome this the group facilitated Zoom calls to coordinate the campaign and get it up and running.

Shannon McLaughlin, an NCS Graduate and member of Blackburn Rovers’ Youth Board said;

“We chose this project because we felt it greatly impacted the current crisis happening around us and we wanted to do something positive during these difficult times. We couldn’t physically get together so we decided to have a video meeting to discuss what we could do. That is when we decided to create the Support our Supermarkets campaign”

Shannon was delighted with the impact it had and continued saying;

“It was the lady’s face light up I enjoyed the most when I gave them the gift and letter. It was like the worry lifted off their shoulders for a moment and that they felt appreciated. That was the same when other members of the Youth Board surprised supermarket staff with a gift.  I really enjoyed bringing happiness and positivity to such a difficult time”

Blackburn’s Youth Board is made up of 58 members, all graduates of the NCS programme, and have delivered a number of other projects within Blackburn including one that support people that are blind. The Youth Board is managed by Jade Elliot, an NCS Graduate and now full time employer at Blackburn Rovers Community Trust. Jade is extremely proud of the work that the Youth Board has done during these difficult time;

“I am so proud yet again of what our Youth Board at Blackburn Rovers Community Trust have produced. This campaign can leave a legacy and can continue beyond COVID-19. They continue to support people in need through such a difficult and unprecedented time which just shows the type of people they are. It’s a pleasure to work with such amazing young people”

NCS is a youth programme designed for 16-17 year olds that runs every summer and autumn, during school holidays. The experience is all about emboldening young people, by giving them the buzz of being an adult (without all the responsibilities). On NCS, participants live away from home and get a taste of independence. They mix with a new crowd of people and take on exciting challenges together. The experience helps young people to develop new skills that will set them up for life after school.

Due to Covid-19 and government guidance the Summer 2020 programme has been repurposed. As such, NCS Trust have launched a Staying Connected hub. To keep up to date on the repurposed programme or to find out more visit www.wearencs.com.

Brentford Community Sports Trust offer respite to hundreds of young carers

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Life in lockdown is challenging for most people, but think how challenging this is for young carers who have an incredible responsibility to care for their parents or relatives who are unwell.

Aliyah is 17 and has cared for her Mum since she was six years old. Her responsibilities involve doing the shopping, cleaning the house, cooking for the family and when her mum isn’t very well, taking her up to bed. All of this, alongside studying and working at the weekend to pay for things she wants.

Since lockdown, Aliyah has had to leave her job due to isolation and continue caring for her mum as she is at risk if she leaves the house.  

Aliyah has been attending Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust’s Young Carers project since she was 10 and believes the project has offered her huge support and respite in her life. This hasn’t stopped during this difficult time.

She said:

“The young carers project has been a constant over the years for me, it has supported me and helped me figure out my place in the world, all while having fun!”

Brentford’s Young Carers project has been running for over 9 years supporting young carers with group sessions to meet young people in a similar situations, homework clubs, weekly youth clubs, and activities to offer respite. Since lockdown occurred, Brentford have been engaging through online platforms hosting quizzes, drop-ins and contacting each young carer to check in on their welfare and offer support during this difficult time.

Aliyah continued:

“The support has been great since we’ve had to isolate. I have had a few calls from Brentford. It’s nice to know that other people are thinking about you and offering help. I’m going to join one of the weekly online quizzes as it would be  great to see some familiar faces from the programme.”

Kathryn Sobczak, Young Carers Co-ordinator, has noticed the transformation of Aliyah over her time on the programme;

She said;

“Aliyah has been part of the young carers project for 7 years now, starting off quite a quiet young girl, now full of confidence. This is really evident for us to see throughout the time we have known her. She has stepped up in the project to support the younger carers, acting as a mentor.

“In more recent years Aliyah has attended our transition project to support her with CV writing, interview skills and attending to get an insight to the working world.”

Aliyah has also expressed a keen interest in giving back and volunteering at the Young Carers programme that has supported her over the years, when she reaches 18 and her time on the programme ends.

During lockdown, Aliyah was keen to share her journey and have her voice heard through NCS’ ‘Youth Rising’ Podcast. Please click here to listen.

Joy of Moving moves online to support families

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The Joy of Moving programme has been supporting year 5 children across EFL Communities in the UK for the past 6 years. The Joy of Moving programme has consisted of two elements; the Move & Learn project and Joy of Moving Festivals. Over 300,000 children have been introduced to moving and learning new skills all while having fun and playing.

Now, in challenging times with us all in lockdown, we have moved the programme that is traditionally delivered by our Football Club Community coaches in schools to online to help more families benefit from the fun games and activities. Our aim is to teach children how to enjoy moving through play and to help them develop positive habits for their future. These are great games to play with your children to get them moving and most importantly playing!

The games and activities are based on the unique Joy of Moving methodology, developed by Ferrero with key independent parties including Foro Italico (Rome University) and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). This methodology inspires children to move through play across the world, whilst developing key skills in four major areas: physical fitness, motor coordination, cognitive functions and creativity and life skills. 

This is not just another set of exercises or a cardiovascular workout which can often switch children off and make them feel under pressure. This is a method of offering you a series of fun games to play with your family, in a way that they will enjoy. We understand that you may not have all the time in the world so we’ve deliberately made the games short and bite sized, to get them moving and having fun! They can be done at home in a lounge, garden or any space you can find!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing the Joy of Moving games and activities on our social media channels and you can find them all on our website www.joyofmovingresourcehub.co.uk.

You’ll find a range of games and activities you can do at home including Elastic Bridge, The Mirror and The Cap Race.

Join us now to experience the Joy of Moving and bring that joy into your home! Share your fun moments with us through #JoyofMoving.

Supporters encouraged to walk a mile for Charlton Upbeats

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Charlton Athletic Community Trust’s (CACT’s) annual fundraiser for its Down’s syndrome programme, the Charlton Upbeats, has this year become a 1-mile walk to be done individually due to the COVID-19 pandemic

  • 1-mile Upbeats Walk taking place on 25 April (11am-1pm)
  • £10,000 group target to keep project running for another year

Saturday 25 April remains the date of annual Upbeats Walk, but supporters are encouraged to walk a mile at some point between 11am and 1pm and donate online.

The Charlton Upbeats programme for young people and adults with Down’s syndrome has been running for 12 years and is entirely funded by voluntary donations.

Due to the government’s guidance on mass gatherings, CACT is urging as many supporters as possible to walk 1 mile, donate £10 to the project and nominate someone to do the same.

Participants could do this at home, in their gardens or during their daily exercise in their local area but are encouraged to follow government guidelines.

Last year’s walk raised more than £24,000. With some trips cancelled, however, this year’s target has been lowered to £10,000.

Carl Krauhaus, CACT’s Head of Early Help & Prevention, said:

“Following the generosity of supporters in previous years which has helped us build a limited amount of cash reserves for unforeseen circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to lower this year’s fundraising target. This is because we have fewer activities planned for the Upbeats over the next few months having unfortunately had to cancel a number of trips scheduled due to the pandemic.

“However, it’s vital we do reach the £10,000 target to keep the Upbeats running for another year, and we’re very grateful for all the support the programme has received since it started, which we hope can be repeated even at this difficult time.”

Mother of Charlton Upbeat William said:

“For my son William, it means everything. It’s the highlight of his week and also for the parents it’s fantastic, because we get together, we’ve got something in common with our children and it’s comradery for the children as well as the parents.”

A significant number of Charlton players, past and present, have done the walk or donated to the programme in the past.

Look out for more information and some special features about the Upbeats on CACT and Charlton’s Athletic’s social media channels next week.

The next edition of the weekly CACT quiz with former Charlton player Scott Minto on Thursday 23 April will have a special focus on the Upbeats including a number of questions about the history of the programme.

Fans who are unable to walk a mile but would still like to donate to the programme, can do so by clicking here.