To mark this year’s remembrance, Blackpool FC Community Trust and Blackpool Football Club have supported the occasion with several events.
On Saturday 6th November, Blackpool hosted Queens Park Rangers in their Championship fixture. Six former and current military personnel from the Fylde Coast, who attend BFCCT activities, formed a guard of honour for the two teams. This was then followed by the playing of the last post by Bob Wareham, who was one of the individuals that formed the guard of honour. The football club also invited 90 individuals to attend the match, which was comprised of local armed forces veterans and their families.
At halftime, there was a ceremonial signing of the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a joint pledge from Blackpool FC and Blackpool FC Community Trust to support the armed forces community.
On Wednesday 10th November, representatives from Blackpool FC Community Trust, Blackpool FC, Blackpool FC Academy, and the Former Players Association laid a wreath at the Blackpool & Fylde Arboretum, in an area managed by the Community Trust during their Veterans Gardening Club. The area is dedicated to ex-Blackpool players who fell during WWI. In the afternoon, a group of veterans attended a history stadium tour at Bloomfield Road Stadium, coordinated by the Community Trust.
Dave Maclean, Community Engagement Manager at Blackpool FC Community Trust commented that
“It has been hugely rewarding for the Trust to support the club to coordinate this year’s remembrance events. This is in part due to the fact that so many of those involved are people we support on a weekly basis through the various armed forces groups we deliver.”
Jason White, Head of Community Programmes added
“We have been developing our armed forces offer for the past four years. To see how far we have come, which culminated in the activities and support we offered around the Remembrance Day period, has been hugely rewarding and we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved. We also have been successful in securing some additional financial support from both The Armed Forces Covenant and The Veterans Foundation. This will help us to both sustain and grow our offer, allowing us to reach even more people and their families. For their support, we are hugely grateful.”
Blackpool FC Community Trust are proud to support Blackpool veterans through our sessions, veterans have the chance to engage with other members of the armed forces community and rediscover the unique camaraderie of serving soldiers.
