NATIONAL LEAGUE TRUST FUNDS COUNTY COMMUNITY TRUST YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROJECT AND WEEKLY SOCIAL WELL-BEING GROUP IN 2022.
The National League Trust, in partnership with the Premier League and the Professional Footballers’ Association Charity has offered a grant of £25,000 to County Community Trust over the next 12 months.
County Community Trust, the official affiliated charity of Stockport County FC is delighted to have received this funding which will go towards supporting the running of two of the Trusts projects: County’s Social Well-Being Group project and the Youth Engagement Project.
County’s Social Well-Being Project
County’s Social Well-being group was launched at Edgeley Park on Wednesday 24th November 2021. The weekly group takes place every Wednesday morning (10.00am until 12.00pm) at Stockport County’s ground, a well-known venue to the community that is warm, welcoming, comfortable, and relaxing.
The aim is to reach out and support vulnerable people in the community living with long-term health and mental health conditions, maybe experiencing loneliness, and living in social isolation, living with physical and learning disabilities, complex needs, and dementia by providing opportunities making positive difference to their lives, improving people’s health and mental well-being. The weekly drop-in will bring people together to meet and chat over a coffee/tea with friendly staff and volunteers, socialise and reminisce about their present and past life experiences and memories. Members can take part in therapeutic interventions by enjoying stress-relieving activities such as gentle yoga, relaxation & body movement and Art Therapy delivered by trained qualified professional therapists and explore opportunities in making long-term lifestyle changes that improve their health and mental wellbeing. Attendees can also socialise, play bingo, and take part in a quiz, do a ground tour, and do gentle exercise walking around the pitch.
Adrian Rigby-Bates, Health and Well-Being Manager for County Community Trust explains about the benefit the National League Trust funding will make:
“I would like to thank the National League Trust for their grant in funding our County’s Social Well-Being Group. The overall impact of the project is that it brings together vulnerable individuals, their families, carers, and friends reducing stigma and raising awareness in the community. The benefits of the project are that it extends opportunity and choice, promotes health and wellbeing, improves self-esteem and confidence, builds new and existing life skills, and reduces social isolation. It also offer’s respite from the carer’s role and those looking after loved ones with complex needs. As you can imagine the numbers of people in our community coming through the pandemic suffering from mental illness, living in social isolation and loneliness will have increased massively and our Community Trusts support and Social Well-being programme will be needed more than ever.”
Youth Engagement Project
The Youth Engagement Project will see the Trust deliver weekly football sessions engaging with local young people (ages 7- 18) in central Stockport making them accessible for young people living in the local area to attend. In addition, the Trust have delivered park sessions during the October 2021 half term holiday and will continue to deliver these in 2020 in February, at Easter, and at the Whit-sun holidays three times a day for 1 hour in different locations across Stockport. Working in partnership with Greater Manchester Police, Mosscare St Vincent’s, Greater places, Onward housing associations and Stockport Youth Offending Service they have mapped out the different areas in need of this provision and to engage with young people to help reduce Anti-Social Behaviour.
Matthew Bailey, Partnership Manager for County Community Trust explains more about the Youth Engagement Project:
“The Youth Engagement project will be delivered in a fun and safe environment and will be made inclusive for all attendees. The sessions will be used as a mechanism in not only educating young people but in providing and giving young people links with organisations, building young people’s aspirations and building effective coaching pathway opportunities.”
John Stevenson MBE, County Community Trust Chairman went onto say:
“This funding will make such a positive difference to people’s lives in our local community in enabling the Trust to deliver our programme of activities. We would like to say a huge thank you to the National League Trust for their funding which enables us to develop both our weekly Social Well-Being group and Youth Engagement project”
If anyone is interested in finding out more about our Youth Engagement Project or County’s Social Well-Being Group, please email [email protected] or phone 0161 266 2700
