EVENT: Level Playing Field Week of Action 2022

Level Playing Field are celebrating their 18^th Weeks of Action campaign, which aims to showcase the good work being done by clubs and organisations to improve accessibility and inclusion for disabled fans.

This weekend we will be welcoming pupils from local SEND Schools to Blackpool FC home game against Swansea.

To support the campaign, Blackpool FC and Blackpool FC Community Trust are working together by giving 110 tickets to the five Special Educational Needs and Disability schools the Trust works with, through our Children in Need project.

Thanks to funding from BBC Children in Need we are able to provide weekly physical activity sessions to these schools. Last year we also organised a football match between Park Community Academy and Woodlands School. Read More

The tickets will allow a child and parent or carer and two teachers from each school to attend the Blackpool V Swansea City match, on Saturday 12^th March.

Fans Liaison Officer from Level Playing Field, Liam Bird, said:

“The importance of live sport on an individual’s well-being goes far deeper than just watching a match. It offers community, belonging a sense of togetherness. Sport is very unique in that way and that’s why its so important that watching live sport is available to everyone and anyone. 

The past two years have demonstrated that not going to watch your team, instead of watching, for some, alone at home has a significant impact on a person’s well-being. That’s why for this year’s Level Playing Field Weeks of Action, we have asked all supporting clubs in England and Wales to highlight the importance of access and inclusion for their disabled supporter base and celebrate fans being back in their seats cheering on their team. 

Weeks of Action is a fantastic opportunity for Blackpool Football Club to highlight the fantastic work that they do and provide education and guidance to their fellow non-disabled supporters. 

I look forward to celebrating Level Playing Field Weeks of Action alongside the club, the fans, and its players.”

Paul, the Disability Engagement Officer for the Community Trust said:

“We have a good relationship with all the schools that are coming, and I know that quite a few of the children will never have been to a football match before. I’m looking forward to seeing them come and hopefully have a good experience.

 The Level Playing Field Weeks of Action campaign is a great event to raise awareness for sporting venues to begin to address any unseen barriers for those fans who live with a disability. This year we are aiming to get all the parents and carers who attend to fill in a survey relating to their child’s experience of the day. This will help the Community Trust and the Club to understand if any barriers impact their experience of coming to a Blackpool home game. We want to address any barriers that come to our attention in this survey and hopefully make some of the children who attend able to do so more often in the future.”

For more information about Level Playing Field visit: www.levelplayingfield.org.uk or email info@levelplayingfield.org.uk