Kids Initiative
Poole Town FC have long held a tradition of being a strong community club. Founded back in 1880, Poole Town consistently have around 25 youth, ladies and less abled football teams playing below the first team under the banner of our affiliated grassroots club Poole Town FC Wessex. They are an England Football Accredited club which is the highest community kitemark that the FA bestow. Criteria considered for this award include the number of club teams, number of qualified coaches and procedural and safeguarding policies (England Football Accreditation).
Our community focus has never been greater and during 2018 the club launched their Kids Initiative to further benefit and enrich the lives of all local children with particular help for those facing hardship. The club are also mindful of the wider community and organise events and free ticket offers for our senior citizens, armed forces and NHS employees amongst others.
The object of the Kids Initiative scheme is to involve all local children in the fun of football, especially those facing physical, emotional or financial hardship. The KI now works with local authorities, schools and children’s charities to provide free coaching, equipment and clothing for the kids most in need. In addition, the KI also provides a number of opportunities for children and their families to attend Poole Town matches for free as well as raising money for charities and worthy causes throughout the year at various social and fund-raising events.
As the Kids Initiative has established itself it has benefited from the support and generosity of local firms who have agreed to sponsor it which in turn has enabled us to expand the scope of what we do. With this expansion the KI has, in 2023, become a Community Interest Company (CIC) which will assist in our plans to seek grants and further funding to allow our further growth.
If any individual or organisation would like to support us, please see the Kids Initiative Website where we have several ways of getting involved including the Arthur Robbins Donations Club and the BH Coastal Lottery. We would be delighted to hear from any company or individual who would like to get involved by donating to or sponsoring our efforts, either by one off donations to regular monthly payments. For more information, please contact: Richard.gale@pooletownfc.co.uk
Coaching:
Free Coaching for Local Children:
Since April 2021, the Kids Initiative has worked with our youth team organisation, Poole Town FC Wessex, to offer free football coaching to local children, many of whom were affected by Covid 19. Together with coaching partners Champion Sports and now Step into Sport we continue to provide free, hour-long training sessions on weekday afternoons at several venues in Poole. Since the first sessions back in 2021, hundreds of children, in years Reception to Year 8, have been able to take part in these fun, free sessions each week. Such has been their success, the KI are constantly expanding their free coaching provision with a focus on setting up new, girls only sessions. You can find out more at: https://ptfckids.co.uk/coaching-sessions.
The Boot Room:
Sports Kit for Kids
The Boot Room was launched at the end of 2019 and its inception came through our involvement with local schools whereby we became aware of a recurring issue – many children being unable to take part in school sports because they do not have the necessary footwear.
The Boot Room seeks to address this. The scheme is basically a shoe exchange whereby the club, working with schools and children’s charities, collects donations of pre-loved boots and trainers and re-distributes them back to children who do not have any.
Since its launch, the scheme has collected, cleaned and refurbished hundreds of football boots and trainers which have been distributed to local schools. In addition, we have had other footwear donated such as wellington boots and regular kids shoes which we have also found good homes for.
Schools Programme:
Following on from the interest in The Boot Room, and with increased grants and sponsorship being received, we have looked at further ways of increasing children’s participation in both academia and sport whilst at school. Although started in 2022, the Schools Program will start delivering results through 2023 and beyond.
The first part of the Program is Team Creation. Through this the Kids Initiative will help local schools equip themselves with free kit, equipment and coaching to establish new school teams. Complete kits, shin pads, goalie gloves, goals, footballs, corner flags and assistant referee flags can all be provided as part of the package. Our coaching partners, Step into Sport, can also supply provide coaching sessions for these new teams, free of charge.
The School Award Ticket is the second part of this program. Books of these quality, embossed tickets are distributed to participating schools in the Poole area. The schools are at liberty to award a ticket to a child to reward them for anything ranging from good attendance, achievement or behaviour.
The ticket allows the child and their family free entry into a Poole Town FC home league match. The reaction so far has been extremely positive and we feel this is going to be a great incentive for schools to be able to use.
Free Family Ticket Vouchers:
Match Day Family Tickets:
Our Free Ticket Vouchers form part of our efforts to involve the wider community of Dorset with the club.
The vouchers are emailed to dozens of schools in Poole, Bournemouth and east Dorset who are invited to send them on to all their children and their families.
The vouchers are issued for at least 1 league game each season and enables 2 adults and 2 children, under 16, free entry to the selected matches.
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Please contact us at: Richard.gale@pooletownfc.co.uk
