Black History Month 2023

Last week Blackpool FC first team players CJ Hamilton, Marvin Ekpiteta, Tashan Oakley-Boothe and Kylian Kouassi joined Blackpool FC Community Trust in presenting the winners of our Black History Month Competition with their prizes at their schools. All runners up collected Blackpool FC goody bags while the winners were presented with a Blackpool FC shirt.

The competition was offered to all Blackpool Primary Schools and was really well received with nearly 800 entries. Pupils were invited to submit a piece of work on an inspirational black person from any field that has inspired them. This competition aimed to celebrate and honour the achievements of black people such as Martin Luther King, Bob Marley, Rosa Parks or even those closer to home such as teachers and family members.

Entries included a wide range of inspirational and motivational people of colour, from family members and coaches to activists, presidents and sports stars. Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 embraced the aim of the competition and articulated their aspirations to follow in the footsteps of their subjects perfectly. It was great to see the depth of research that had gone into the newspaper articles, and it was evident that lots of positive discussions and learning had taken place with in school and at home.

Blackpool FC first team players stayed to answer questions and talk to the pupils about the influential people in their life, including Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and parents. They shared some of their personal highlights and achievements and encouraged the children to work hard and focus on their dreams.

Competition winners and runners up are as follows. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who entered our 2023 Black History Month newspaper article competition.