There have been many positives to take from the past week, which have included coming out of November’s lockdown.
Whilst we have returned to the tiered system in Tier 3, the new guidance allows us to restart our delivery of outdoor sporting activity, which means this week we have been able to restart our Walking Football sessions, Forces Football, Disability Football programmes and our PL Kicks sessions for young people.
The new restrictions also allow us to bring young people together, without restrictions on numbers. This means our PL Kicks sessions which offer an opportunity for young people in areas of greater need to simply turn up and play, can now do so.
When the restrictions said groups of thirty (including staff and coaches), we couldn’t allow the sessions to take place in their normal capacity because we normally see forty to fifty attend sessions together.
Finally, our support in this area, can start to look a little bit more normal.
Last Wednesday we also celebrated seven years since we first launched our Walking Football programme. At the time, we were one of the very first football clubs to start this provision and the growth of this area of work has been unbelievable. We now deliver six sessions every week, have over one hundred and twenty regular attendees and a fantastic club, the BFC Senior Seasiders formed, who represent our great town in local, regional, national and international competitions. I’m very proud to sit on the committee and it’s great fun.
This week we have also launched our Festive Fundraiser with Blackpool Football Club and Simon Sadler, his family and Segantii Capital Management.
After some consultation with local primary schools, we were made aware that approximately 700 children will potentially not have a present to open on Christmas morning. A devastating statistic.
We decided that we wanted to launch a campaign to buy each of these children a gift. After discussing this fact with Simon and his lovely wife Gillian, they were devastated and wanted to contribute and make this a bigger campaign than we had originally planned.
We owe a big thank you to our first team, local businesses, staff from the Community Trust and Club, fans and members of our amazing community for their donations. To top it off, Simon and his family, and partners of Segantii Management Capital, have agreed to match every pound raised.
We can provide a toy for each child and a gift box, full of sweets and treats. The support locally has absolutely blown us away. It’s the first time we have launched a fundraising campaign and we are genuinely shocked at the support that has been shown. All I can say is, THANK YOU, but we are not finished yet.
