Archive for category: News

Tranmere Rovers Community Trust hosted a socially distanced Christmas gathering for the dementia group.

The event was held at Prenton Park, and participants were able to take part in a quiz, bingo and they received a video message from Club captain, Scott Davies, to wish them all a happy holidays. They also took part in a singalong, which is sponsored by AmaSing.

The gathering, which also is aligned to TRIC’s ongoing Tackling Loneliness Together project which is funded by DCMS through the EFL Trust, took place last week with ten participants in attendance and they all received a food hamper from the Club.

Two of those, Silvia, and her husband , Eddie, explained why they loved coming and the positive impact the dementia group has made on their lives.

“We love coming here, the atmosphere on Thursday afternoon was lovely and everyone is so friendly. Shirley from Tranmere Rovers in the Community keeps ringing us to check how we are. They have come round to the house and sat in the garden too. Her, Steve Williams and the rest of the staff have been brilliant. I tell everybody, even my doctor, about Tranmere Rovers because what they do is so lovely. My husband doesn’t understand what is going on at any time, day or night, and if I tell him where we are going, he will ask but if I say we are going to see Shirley, he says ok. It is great company, and we have a great laugh. When I go home, I feel as though I have been out for the day. We go to other groups but it is not the same as here, everyone is just so nice and we get on so well.”

Following an unprecedented 12 months, Wigan Athletic Community Trust have today released a report detailing the massive impact they have had in their community. The report details the wide range of activities that the Trust deliver; from helping 117 children aged under 4 to be more school ready to delivering over 3,000 facemasks to care homes and other NHS hubs. From helping men lose weight as part of the FIT LATICS programme to helping previously unemployed young people gain employment.

The report is split into two sections reviewing six months of activity whilst also looking at the work and the impact of the Trust during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the football club collectively showed its value to the community with players and management making calls to supporters and the delivery of essential PPE equipment to care homes. The Community Trust also provided free sports coaching to targeted children, which also included a free lunch.

The Trust works in partnership with Wigan Athletic to Improve Health, Enhance Life Chances and Create Stronger, Safer Communities.

The charity has three priority areas of work: Schools, Community Development, Training and Skills, and aims to:

• Increase participation in sport across all levels of society – particularly those from underrepresented groups.
• Encourage young people and families to lead healthier and more active lifestyles.
• Improve the skills, aspirations and achievements of young people.
• Contribute towards increased community cohesion by improving the quality of life for young people and families.

Tom Flower, Head of Community at Wigan Athletic, said: “It has certainly been a challenging and difficult 12-month period in the history of Wigan Athletic.

“As the club’s official charity we have continued to serve the people of Wigan and the surrounding area, ensuring critical support to the borough when it was needed more than ever.

“The work we do wouldn’t be possible without the backing of the football club, as well as national and local partners including Wigan Council, the Premier League, PFA and EFL Trust who I’d like to thank for their ongoing support.

“The staff should be very proud of their hard work and for responding and adapting so well to new challenges facing our community and I hope supporters take great pride in reading about the positive impact we have had.”

To view  the Impact Report, please click here.

A heart-warming story has seen pupils from Co-Op Academy Portland Primary School write letters to Tranmere Rovers in the Community’s Dementia group.

The young children decided to do this act of kindness as part of their social action project for the Premier League Primary Stars Programme, as they have been learning about the local community and the history of Wirral.

As part of the project, the children also wanted to reach out to the elderly who are feeling isolated during this time so TRIC asked the pupils to write the letters to those who take part in our Dementia group as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme.

In the letters, the children asked how they are, how they are coping through lockdown, alongside asking what it was like growing up and how things have changed throughout the years.

The task proved to be an excellent opportunity not only for the children to improve their writing skills  and make a positive impact on someone’s life but also to make those isolated at this time feel connected.

Moving forward, the children from Portland Primary will keep in regular dialogue with the Dementia group via pen pal, and we look forward to seeing how the relationship grows.

Faye Jones, from Tranmere Rovers in the Community, said:

“We identified this as a perfect opportunity to bring the children and the dementia group together to have a positive impact on all involved.

“It is great the young children can engage with the elderly, and it was a brilliant way of bringing various generations together during this difficult time.

“The children were wonderful and wrote some lovely letters and asked a number of interesting questions. It gave the elderly people the opportunity to reply to the letters and reminisce about their lives and when they grew up.”

Jack and Ronald have a lot in common, both are former armed forces personnel with a love of ballroom dancing and both are living alone and lonely.  However, now thanks to Blackpool FC Community Trust they are in regular contact with each other and combatting their loneliness.

As part of the Tackling Loneliness Together project, funded by DCMS and EFL Trust Blackpool Football Club Community Trust (BFCCT) have created a referral process to enable external partners to refer those individuals in the community who are most at risk of being lonely and socially isolated.

Ronald had not been out of his house for a few months and did not have much social interaction with others. Ronald has family who lives abroad and speaks to them regularly through the use of skype. Ronald served in the armed forces and was a Ballroom Champion with his wife, who passed away 18 years ago.  Jack has been housebound for a while due to very poor mobility, however, he still has a visit from his son once a week. Jack is a veteran of the royal marines and used to also be a ballroom dancer.

When Jack and Ronald were referred to the loneliness programme, it was was amazing how much they has in common and it became the Trust’s mission to introduce them both to each other.  However, firstly in the lead up to the introduction, the community trust supported both Jack and Ronald through weekly phone calls, garden gate visits and postal packs containing recent Blackpool Football Club match day programmes, puzzles and letters from pupils who attend Park Community Academy.

Once the Trust staff had built a relationship with them both, they were finally able to set up a 3-way call, which included Jack, Ronald and a BFCCT staff member. The gentleman spoke about what they have been doing, their days in the armed forces and their ballroom dancing days. They both agreed that they would like to keep contact and start to contact each other through Skype. This caused a minor issue as Jack had never used Skype before and did not have it on his tablet. The Trust brought in a local partner, Blackpool Coastal Housing and Ability Net, who have contacted Jack to support him with accessing Skype.

Dave Maclean, Blackpool FC Community Trust’s Community Engagement Manager, said,

“The connection that these gentlemen had from their first phone call conversation was extremely heart-warming and justifies why a project like this is needed. To be able to bring together two lonely gentlemen who are socially isolated and do not have much human interaction and befriend them who has such strong common interests is exceptionally special.”