TV's Ben Shephard Delighted With Funding For CST
Contact the Football Foundation at: events@footballfoundation.org.uk.For more information, contact Aiden.Wassell@shrewsburytown.co.uk.
"This Grow the Game funding, provided by the Premier League and The FA, is excellent news for Shrewsbury Town Community Sports Trust. They deserve real credit for working with the Football Foundation and Shropshire FA to help secure the grant.
"Grow the Game funding makes a tangible difference, it helps to increase participation in the sport. It allows clubs at the lowest levels of the game to pay for things associated with starting new teams, like making sure their volunteer coaches can get qualified with FA coaching badges."
A Football Foundation Ambassador and a keen footballer himself, Ben Shephard said:
"We would like to thank the Football Foundation for this funding for CP Football. The fund will go a long way to cover facility/equipment cost for the CP Football teams. It is hoped that, with the fund the sessions will become sustainable long term, this will create great opportunity for children and young people with cerebral palsy within football and their development within football." Aiden Wassell, health and inclusion officer for Shrewsbury Town Community Sports Trust, said:
This year sees a particular emphasis placed on increasing the number of teams and players from the Under-15 age bracket and above, to address the decline in participation that has traditionally occurred as young people leave school and college. The other key focus is on growing the numbers of girls’, women’s and disability teams.
The key strength of Grow the Game is that its participation increases are sustainable rather than transient. Its grants create a solid infrastructure of teams and newly-trained coaches in which new people can start playing the sport, rather than simply providing temporary activity sessions, which are then vulnerable to drops in participation once the programme ends.
The Premier League and The FA fund the Grow the Game scheme with £1.9m, which is delivered by the Football Foundation, the nation’s largest sports charity. The scheme is designed to increase participation in our national game by helping clubs to meet the essential costs of starting new teams.
The grant will allow Shrewsbury Town Community Sports Trust to set up a CP Football, this will target children and young people with cerebal palsy across the county of Shropshire. It will create two new disability sessions for children aged 6-15 who have cerebral palsy. The sessions will take place weekly and will be delivered by Shrewsbury Town Community Sports Trust staff. It will also give our coaches and volunteers a chance to take relevant CPD courses such as Coaching Disabled Footballers.
Ben Shephard, ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday presenter, spoke of his delight after grassroots football in Shrewsbury received a £3000 boost in the form of a Grow the Game grant from the Football Foundation, the country’s largest sports charity.