Tamworth lead the way when it comes to a community effort

 

Tamworth School Sport Partnership (SSP), Tamworth Football Club and Tamworth Police Turnaround Team have joined forces to deliver the Tamworth in the Community – Healthy Lifestyles Schools Project. Around 200 school visits will allow the young people of Tamworth to learn more about physical exercise – and the benefits of this, and how a healthy lifestyle supports future opportunities.

The Partnership is the first one of this kind to receive Football Conference funding a presentation celebration will be shown live on TV, in front of the cameras at the live Conference game against Newport on Thursday 2^nd December.
 

"LAST season we managed to get out to the local schools about 12 times throughout the year – now, through the new funding, we will be aiming for around 200 visits between December and May."

 

In just one sentence Martyn Lathbury, from the Tamworth in the Community programme, shows the impact a new £21,000 funding project will have on the ability of Tamworth to branch out within the community.

 

A £10,500 grant, the first of which to be handed out, was given to the Lambs by the Football Conference Club development programme.

 

This total, which will be given to the club every year for at least three years, was then matched by a £10,500 fund handed down by the Tamworth School Sport partnership.

 

Combined, the £21,000 total will enable the club to visit the 36 primary schools across the borough of Tamworth and the bordering area of North Warwickshire between six and nine times a year until May.

 

"We have reserved 150 sessions for schools in and around Tamworth and have also reserved 30 for schools in the North Warwickshire region," said Martyn. "Add to that the assemblies that the players go into the schools for and I think we will be pushing towards 200 appearances within schools before May – that is incredible when you look at the scale we were operating on before.

 

"Thanks to this new funding we will be able to go out and make a real impact within the community now.

 

"We will be having a lot of time with the children within the community and that can only help everyone concerned.

 

"For the children it is a chance to learn about physical exercise – and the benefits of it – and also they get to see their local footballers in the flesh.

 

"For the club it helps to spread the word of Tamworth FC throughout the community, and for the players it is a chance to do some good within the community and also improve their coaching."

 

The new initiative which the funding has helped to form, entitled the Tamworth in the Community – Healthy Lifestyles School Project, is to commence at the beginning of December and run through to the end of the school year in May.

 

Mainly targeting school years three through to five, the project lists in its aims 'a desire to encourage primary school children to consider how their lifestyle affects their future opportunities."

 

Martyn Lathbury said: "That is something we are really keen to do at the football club. We want to get kids off their computers and out playing some sport again.

 

"That is why at the end of the sessions the kids get a football to take home. It gives them a physical incentive to go out and play when they get home.

 

"Having the players on board with this as well is great. We see it as a perfect way to encourage children to start up a more physically active way of life."

 

Ben Bulleyment, manager of the Tamworth School and Sport Partnership, who helped fund half the Tamworth total said: "We are thrilled to be a part of this new project and see it as a great way to promote healthy lifestyles for children.

 

"The football club will also be working alongside the turnaround team at Tamworth police to promote their respect agenda, in which children are taught about respecting each other and themselves, and we saw the whole link-up as a great way forward.

"We are committed to the project and wish the football club all the best."

 

During the hundreds of visits to local schools the Tamworth team will be offering a seven-part course, lasting an hour-and-a-half, that will be split between physical and mental activities.

 

The school children will be given a brief introduction about the club and why they are there before getting to meet a player as part of the creating a role model section of the day.

 

A talk about healthy lifestyles then follows before a warm-up and ball skills are performed by the coaches, players and children.

 

A team-game and a close-down talk then complete the game.

 

For Football Conference chairman Brian Lee, the role of the players within the sessions, and the message being sent out, were all key factors to Tamworth being the first to receive the funding.

Brian said: "I am delighted that Tamworth have been the first to benefit from this new funding scheme.

 

"There is a real sense of romanticism when it comes to a club this size and a project like this.

 

"We wanted the clubs who applied for the funding to show that they had a project in place that would help develop ties within their communities – whether it be with old people or young people and that is what Tamworth have done.

 

"The Tamworth project that was put to us did just that, it showed the club's willingness to go out into the community and also showed how much they wanted to bridge the gap between young people and their local football club.

 

"The big stars in football now live in mansions behind high walls and it is difficult for the young fans to identify with them. That is why the Tamworth scheme is so good, it involves the players.

 

"It has the first-team players, and the academy players, going out to the schools and bringing something back to the community.

 

"But what is good for us is that it will also help bring something to the players. It will show them about coaching and also have them interacting with those who could go on to become Tamworth fans of the future.

 

"That is why we are happy to put forward the £10,500 each year for three years – and also have Tamworth as the first to receive the funds."

 

For more information contact:

Ben Bulleyment
Partnership Development Manager
Tamworth School Sport Partnership
T: 01827 60892
E: bb@rawlett.staffs.sch.uk