January – Apprentices
In January, we welcomed three new apprentices to our Marketing and Communications team, Jack, Jordan and Alfie. They joined us on a 15-month apprenticeship undertaking Business Admin. Each do a different thing for the Trust, with Jack doing social media, Alfie doing photography and videography and Jordan doing admin and graphics. They are currently 10 months in and have progressed really well, levelling up their skills in different areas such as social media, graphic design, admin and photography.
January – College Fundraiser
In January, our students from #BlackpoolFCSportsCollege took part in a 24-hour charity bike ride for The Edward Dee Fund. They all did a fantastic job and we are all incredibly proud of the work the students put into this charity fundraiser.
February – Tangerine TeamMates Season 1 Launch
In February, in partnership with Blackpool FC, Tangerine TeamMates was launched! This was a brand-new initiative where we link Blackpool FC First Team Players to local grassroots football clubs. The first season was very successful, engaging with all clubs whether that being online in a Q&A with the players or a face-to-face meet. This season, the initiative is being delivered again, but this time linking different players to different teams.
February – 15 Years of PLKicks
In February, we celebrated 15 years of #PLKicks. On this day, we travelled to Accrington Stanley Community Trust to take part in an Under 16s #PLKicks tournament. We also congratulated Tom Shields by crowning him our Local Kicks Legend as he has delivered the most sessions out of all the staff at Blackpool FC Community Trust by delivering over a thousand sessions.
March – Level Playing Field
At the Blackpool FC vs Swansea City game last season, 110 people attended as guests as part of the Level Playing Field #WeeksOfAction campaign. The attendees were primarily children that we work with via our BBC Children in Need disability project from Highfurlong, Park, Woodlands, Pear Tree, and Red Rose schools. For some children, it was their first time attending a football match and they had a great time!
March – Premier League Changemakers
In March, we attended the first-ever #PLChangemakers national event. Our #PLChangemakers group from Highfield Leadership Academy enjoyed a lovely trip to Aston Villa as part of #iwd2022 and had the opportunity to have a tour of Villa Park and see the Premier League trophy.
April – EFL Awards
In April, we won the Your Move Community Club of the Season for the Northwest and attended the National EFL Awards. It was a great opportunity to showcase the work delivered by Club Community Organisations across the country. Again, a massive congratulations to all the winners who collected an award on the evening.
April – EFL Week of Action
In April, we supported #EFLWeekofAction where we held events, had appearances from Blackpool FC players and much more…
May – FIT2GO Festival
In May, we hosted our #FIT2GO Festival at Blackpool FC stadium. The week was a huge success with nearly 1000 Year 4 pupils from different schools across Blackpool visiting to take part in several different sporting and fitness activities.
May – PL Inspires Challenge
In May, these girls below represented Armfield Academy and held a Shirt Swap Shop Event at Blackpool FC stadium with their main aim to recycle old football shirts and reduce wastage. Their event was a successful one as they managed to raise funds of £108 to resource a day of planting in their local park, to improve the local environment.
June – Armed Forces Week
In June, our Community Engagement Officer, along with the armed forces community in Blackpool took part in #ArmedForcesWeek. Veterans attended a FREE stadium tour of Bloomfield Road and went on a trip to Hangar 24 and much much more!!!
June – Blackpool Pride
In June, we attended Blackpool Pride. We had a great time attending and look forward to attending more events like these in the future. Thank you to everyone who came along to our stall and had discussions with us.
July – NCS Summer Wave
In July, young people from Blackpool attended our Summer NCS wave. The young people learnt key skills they can bring into employment and education such as confidence, resilience, talking, listening and maturity whilst also having fun doing once-in-a-lifetime activities such as rock climbing, canoeing, zip-lining and much more.
July – Show Racism the Red Card
In July, over 100 young people attended Show Racism the Red Card event at Blackpool FC Stadium. The event explored topics such as anti-racism, discrimination and equality.
August – Emerging Talent Centre Launch
In August, we were granted an FA Emerging Talent Centre License and put on our first trial day which we had a fantastic turnout with over 80 girls registered for our u9s, u10s and u11s. Trials continued though the month of September to fill out all the spaces in our u12s, u13s, u14s, u15s and u16s teams. This programme is designed to be a central hub for local talented female players from Blackpool, Fylde and the surrounding areas.
August – Premier League Trophy Tour
In August, a variety of staff and participants from our programmes attended a trophy tour organised by the Premier League for their 30th anniversary. Young and old people had the chance to smile in front of the trophy and get their photo taken next to it.
September – Blackpool FC Sports College Induction Week
In September, we welcomed all first and second-year students to #BlackpoolFCSportsCollege for their induction week.
They took part in several activities such as, Icebreaker challenges, Foot Golf, Football student’s pre-season friendlies and Team building challenges delivered by the Army. Everyone has progressed brilliantly over this first main term.
September – Veterans Boxing Launch
In September, we launched a brand-new session for our veteran’s community in Blackpool called Veteran’s Boxing. These sessions take place every Tuesday evening from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at Kingscote Boxing Gym, 363a Lytham Road, Blackpool, FY4 1EA. Come down and join us!!!
October – FIT2GLOW Festival
In October, 30 Year 2 school teams were invited to take part in our #FIT2GLOW Festival all over Blackpool. This unique experience in partnership with the Lightpool Festival was full of teamwork, fun and of course lots of goals. The final came down to six teams with WestCliff Primary Academy coming out on top and winning the whole tournament. A thank you and a well done to all the teams who competed.
October – Camps Expanded
In October, our half-term camps expanded massively, delivering more than we have ever delivered before. This included our brand new All Girls Football Camp and #PLKicks HAF Camp, with our usual Football Camp, Sports Camp, Stars Disability Camp and HAF Camp across schools in the Blackpool Community. These were all massive successes, filling the capacity to all and all the young people loving them.
November – Remembrance Day Match
In November, for Remembrance Day, our veteran’s football team took part in a special fixture with Fleetwood Town Community Trust with the winning taking home the trophy. The game ended 2-0 to Blackpool FC Community Trust. Well done to all those who took part and thank you to everyone who came and supported!
November – EFL Kids Cup
In November, we held our annual EFL Kids Cup with a World Cup theme. Over 150 pupils from 19 different schools took part in the tournament. Well done to Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School for winning the final against Ansdell Primary School. The event played out with some brilliant football on show. Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School will now progress to the regional finals where they will be representing the school and also Blackpool FC. Thanks to all of the schools who attended to make the event such a fantastic one.
December – Present Deliveries
In December, as part of the Christmas Campaign delivered by us and Blackpool FC, along with the First Team Players, we travelled to different schools all around the Blackpool area to deliver some Christmas presents for their pupils. With this, we have covered 1460 children aged between 4 and 11.
December – Christmas Meals
In December, members of our Extra Time sessions came together to join us at our annual Extra Time Christmas meal. The participants enjoyed a three-course meal at the Halfway House with crackers, Christmas crowns and jokes to bring fun and laughter to the day.
