BURTON Albion Community Trust is set to receive a £10,000 grant that will help fund projects to provide a weekly social group and walking football for adults with disabilities.
BACT is one of 64 Club Community Organisations that applied for funding from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund with each grant worth £10,000.
A panel comprising of Sky Bet, EFL and EFL Trust executives and talkSPORT Breakfast Host Jeff Stelling considered the applications at their inaugural meeting in February.
A variety of projects were approved ranging from programmes to tackle isolation and loneliness, to improving fitness and mental health, increasing participation in sports or to invest in better football facilities for the local area.
BACT’s successful bid focused on improving physical and mental wellbeing for adults with disabilities through social and sporting activities. The project will aim to engage with 25 adults with additional needs or impairments weekly. In addition BACT will provide a walking football programme for adults with disabilities or/and impairments on the 3G facility at the Pirelli Stadium.
BACT Interim Head of Community John Widdowson said: “We are delighted to receive this funding which will make a major positive impact in the community.
“Working with local care homes and service providers we will offer a weekly social group for adults with disabilities at a central venue. The session will provide an opportunity to meet other adults and socialise, sharing experiences, developing friendships and taking part in meaningful activity.
“Alongside the social aspect of this group we will also provide opportunities to take part in physical activity, especially activities that are differentiated to meet the needs of our participants including Boccia (a Parlaympic sport), soft archery, goal ball and table tennis.
“The walking football sessions will be a basic introduction to the sport delivered by coaches with a specific expertise in working with adults and children with disabilities or impairments. They will follow a curriculum of work that will target core functions like balance, movement and agility as well as working on key life skills like teamwork, tenacity and education.”
Burton Albion Chairman Ben Robinson said: “Our charity delivers a wide range of programmes to more than 14,000 participants, creating a major positive impact in the community.
“To be able to do this, funding is vital and I’m delighted we were able to secure this grant which will be used to great benefit over the coming months.”
The Building Foundations Fund represents the largest multi-year sponsor-backed fund dedicated solely to community activity and the process is underway to give EFL Community Club Organisations (CCOs) a chance to bid for grants of up to £100,000 to invest in ongoing programmes or to develop new initiatives. The EFL and Sky Bet agreed a record extension earlier this year that saw the sports betting brand continue as the League’s title partner until the end of the 2028/29 campaign. The commitment to a community fund was an integral part of the extension agreement. To find out more about the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund with other examples of how the fund is being used, visit: https://m.skybet.com/lp/efl-building[1]foundations-fund
