Blackpool FC Community Trust column: National recognition for our work

Normally this time of year brings a two-day trip to St George’s Park for the EFL Trust National Conference, of which my favourite part is spending time with other football club charity leads to share best practice and compare the issues we face.

It’s also a chance to get a full night’s sleep, which is a valuable asset with two young children at home.

But this year the conference has been delivered online, across five days, full of some really interesting and insightful sessions.

One point to raise is how often the many speakers mentioned the fantastic work we are doing in Blackpool. These included the new CEO of the NCS Trust, Mark Gifford, CEO of Sport England, Tim Hollingsworth, and also the CEO of the EFL Trust, Mike Evans, all highlighting our great work.

It makes me very proud to hear the work our team do is thought of so highly across our sector and country.

We have also seen the restart of our Walking Football sessions at PlayFootball and Lytham YMCA, which have been well received. We hope our regulars understand why we have to implement the new booking system and will book sessions very soon.

We have also restarted our weekly Get Set to Go session at Stanley Park, supporting people who live with mental health issues and want to use football to get together with their peers and develop positive mental health.

We have had to adjust our BetterStart programme, which focuses on supporting our early years young people to engage in physical activity and prepare for school, while working with families on what a healthy lifestyle should include.

With nurseries not allowing external providers into their facilities, we cannot deliver this programme, so the team have developed information packs and guidance for the nurseries. These were delivered to establishments over the past week.

Our tackling isolation project, delivered in partnership with the EFL Trust and funded by government, has continued to support many people living on their own and offering them a range of outlets to engage with our staff and the community

The current funding stream finishes at the end of year but we have already submitted two applications to continue this much-needed work, which will hopefully see us extend this provision and continue to make phone calls, deliver virtual social groups, send letters and make doorstep visits.

We were greatly saddened to learn that one of our Tackling Isolation participants, Peter Newbold, passed away last Sunday.

The news really shook a number of our staff, who regularly received calls from Peter supporting our work and suggesting how we could help more people. Stories like this bring home the importance of what we do.