Blackpool FC Community Trust Column: Hailing our helpers in Volunteers Week

The voluntary team at Blackpool FC Community Trust is two-pronged.

First we have a host of young people who utilise our V100 programme to gain experience and receive coaching qualifications to help build their CV and potential for employment in the sport, leisure and teaching environments.

There are lots of examples of people who have utilised this to best effect.

One example is a young man called Jack King, who has been in full-time education with BFCCT for over five years for BTEC and Degree qualifications.

Throughout this time, Jack has also volunteered with the Trust on our schools and sports camps programmes and now works for the Community Trust as part of our PL Primary Stars team.

They help to increase the quality of PE delivered to our young people in primary schools in Blackpool.

The other side to our volunteer programme is made up of people from our local area who want to help.

These people support our delivery team by attending sessions and making sure our participants get the best experience we can give them.

One example of this is a young man called Bradley Baylis.

Brad is a fanatical Blackpool FC fan, has been through the Community Trust education system and now supports our Community team to deliver a host of provisions, including Walking Football, Sporting Memories and PL Kicks.

Brad has always given his time to help others and is a great example for young people to follow.

He was also involved in raising more than £2,200 for the Trust and other local charities through a number of fundraising events this past year, which include supporting a programme fair at Bloomfield Road and running coast to coast from Scarborough to Blackpool.

Another really inspiring individual is local veteran Marianna Mitchell, who originally started attending our veterans’ coffee mornings as a participant.

Such is Maz’s personality that almost instantly she wanted to do more and became a leading member of the groups , devoting additional time and taking on extra responsibility to help other vets not to feel so alone or isolated.

Marianna and her son also helped with the clean-up at Bloomfield Road last year, once the receivers entered the football club.

She spent three days polishing all the trophies our great club has accumulated and made our FA Cup trophy look brand new.

These are three examples of wonderful people in our town who the Community Trust is greatly proud to be associated with.

We appreciate the significant time and support they give to help others.

I also want to make you aware of the fantastic support we have received over the years from the Blackpool FC first-team players, who regularly give up their time to support our participants by attending sessions, getting involved in physical activities, sharing their experiences with our BFC Sport College Students, and giving positive and impactful messages.

First-team players made 312 appearances in community activities last year.

My final point on volunteers concerns the group we helped to form as part of our Walking Football programme.

While these people have always attended and supported our recreational community sessions taking place each week, a large number of them formed the Senior Seasiders Blackpool Walking Football team.

Unfortunately the team was formed while the protests were taking place, meaning players did not feel comfortable competing under the umbrella of Blackpool FC.

They were actually supported by AFC Blackpool. We respected this and maintained contact.

They put together a fantastic team, who have travelled and triumphed in local, national and continental competitions in recent years, while enjoying themselves and building some amazing bonds and friendships.

Over the past few months we have discussed the group becoming Blackpool FC Senior Seasiders and finally representing the town in the great tangerine shirt.

Just prior to lockdown, all agreed to this approach and we have now brought them back to their original home. It’s great to have this group representing the club, while making sure we collectively support AFC Blackpool.

Again, all this would not have been possible without all the volunteers who support the teams and the committee, which I now sit on.

I hope this week’s article has showcased some examples of how well supported we are, and to finish I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to all the volunteers who help our charity.