THERE was a presentation to Head of Community Matt Hancock ahead of kick off on Saturday to mark his ten years of service to Burton Albion Community Trust.
Matt was joined by his family at the game and BACT Chairman John Jackson and Brewers Chairman Ben Robinson were on hand to make the presentation
It was back in January 2012 that Matt joined the fledgling Burton Albion Community Trust from Staffordshire FA.
BACT was a modest operation in those days led by Andy Taylor with a handful of employees and Matt’s role was very much hands on and involved the delivery of coaching and football and education programmes.
As the trust grew in scope and ambition, Matt’s role became more centred on operations and overseeing the managers of the charity’s different sections as well as looking at strategic aims.
When Andy Taylor left the charity in 2017, Matt was the natural choice to be Head of Community.
Since then, he has masterminded and overseen the implementation of the trust’s 2017-20 strategy – Inspiring Our Communities - and its successor, Happier, Healthier and Stronger Communities, which was launched last year.
Matt has also seen the charity through its most challenging period, not only ensuring that BACT negotiated the pandemic in a healthy financial position but also making sure it stepped up and was at the heart of the community response to Covid.
John Widdowson, BACT’S Community and Partnerships Manager, said: “Matt has shown throughout that as a leader he is very people centred. He is so focussed and passionate about bringing the best out of people that they love coming to work. His enthusiasm is infectious, and that positive energy is picked up not only by our staff but all the partners we work with. He is absolutely a nice guy and very good at what he does.”
Burton Albion Chairman Ben Robinson says that Matt’s leadership has helped the trust make an ever-increasing impact on the community.
“At Burton Albion we are fully committed to being at the centre of the community and Matt’s role is pivotal in ensuring that we make a major impact on people’s lives.
“He is at the heart of everything we are trying to achieve and it’s his leadership skills that ensure we deliver on our promises.
“I want to congratulate Matt on a successful ten years with BACT and I look forward to seeing what we can now go on to achieve together.”
BACT Chairman John Jackson added: “Whenever anyone joins the football club, they quickly understand how important community is at Burton Albion.
“We all want to support that aim and Matt is at the heart of what the club is trying to achieve.
“Working with him at BACT is a great pleasure and he leads a very successful team extremely well.”