As the Foundation finished the year with a big Extra Time hubs celebration at the Broadfield Stadium this month, it can look back on a particularly special and eventful year with pride.
The Extra Time Hubs programme had a relaunch of its over 50’s programme, with a free Christmas lunch funded with the generous support of Gatwick Airport in the last session of the year. The Foundation were able to welcome partners and new participants with the programme’s format changing to accommodate its growing numbers.
The Foundation’s delivery of its Premier League Primary Stars programme has been eventful with programme coordinator Liam Joyce delivering anti-bullying and anti-racism workshops within local schools throughout Crawley, teaching through the brand of the Premier League.
He was also there to help take Year 5 Bewbush Academy students to Rottingdean beach - with some students, going to the seaside for the very first time. The day-trip was made possible after fundraising at games at the Broadfield Stadium. For World Book Day the Foundation’s Schools and Football Development department gave out 300 books and 50 WH Smith vouchers to students to help inspire their imagination.
Our Community Development delivered a brand-new Cognitive Stimulation Therapy session at Crawley Museum with a view to accommodating older community members with cognitive illnesses such as Dementia and Parkinson's. Another session, Sporting Memories, was launched in partnership with Sussex County Cricket Club to deliver sessions in the community to aid memory with Sport at the centre of the programme.
The Foundation’s Elite and Development Centre sent teams to Norwich City Community Foundation’s training centre, The Nest for their ‘Canary Cup’ tournament in August. The Reds under 10s side came up against Brighton and Hove Albion on the way to the final which they won against QPR 1-0 to lift the cup in Norfolk.
The Education Academy had great success with a fourth-place finish for the Academy’s ‘A’ team in the National Football Youth League South Championship and the ‘B’ team finishing as runners-up in their division. Striker Maznica won the South Championship Golden Boot award with 12 goals during the course of the season.
The Academy ended the education year with the best results on record with a 100% pass rate; two students left with triple Distinction ‘stars’ and a third of students gaining DDM (Distinction, Merit) on completion of the year.
The Foundation would like to thank all of its partners and participants for their support and engagement during the year and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.