During our recent home fixture vs Mansfield Town, the County Community Trust were delighted to welcome key funding partners of the Trust’s weekly free Friday night girls-only youth engagement programme on to the pitch at half time.
Welcomed onto the pitch were:
Jacqui Belfield-Smith – Head of Youth Justice, Serious Violence Reduction & Targeted Youth Support at Stockport Council
Cllr Meikle – SMBC portfolios holder for children, families and education
Chief Inspector Clare Ryle
Inspector John Picton
Dennis Brown – Youth Justice Officer.
Working in collaboration with these key partners, the Trust are able to offer free weekly engagement sessions at Marple Hall High School. These weekly evening sessions provide an opportunity for girls aged 10-16 to participant in regular physical exercise in a social friendly, safe, structured, enjoyable environment.
Attendees are also offered the opportunity to play as part of the Stockport County engagement team, competing with other clubs/organisations who are delivering similar programmes. The opportunity to wear the Stockport County kit and gain a sense of belonging and empowerment is a huge positive outcome for everyone involved.
Matthew Bailey, County Community Trust Partnerships Manger, said:
“The partnership with the guest who attended our last home league fixture is a crucial part of our strategic priority to ensure any girl from any social class, ethnicity and demographic gets an opportunity; the opportunity to develop her talent, to flourish and go as far as she can in the game.
“Thanks to this programme, we now have engaged with over 100 girls, allowing us to also identify the best talent and place them on a pathway to nurture them, offering those good enough the chance to develop further with a clear pathway ahead of them.”
If anyone is interested in finding out more about this programme, please contact our Partnerships Manager, Mathew Bailey at [email protected] or give him a call on 07816 127588.
