Bolton Wanderers to host Kick it Out Community Forum
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust played host to Kick It Out's 'One Game Bolton' , a community forum aimed at showcasing local grassroots football initiatives and the importance of equality and inclusion at the elite level of the game.
The event kicked off with a presentation by Bolton Wanderers Community Trust on how they link in to grassroots football and other community groups, following on from this the open discussion took place.
Stuart Holden Wanderers Kick it out Ambassador, former Hull City boss and Trotters assistant, Phil Brown, Bury defender Efe Sodje, former Juventus and Stoke City striker Vincent Pericard and ex-England international Earl Barrett made up the panel for the forum, where they were quizzed by attendees about their experiences in the game. The event provided the chance to get an insight into how they could partner up with local community groups, as well as the club itself.
The breadth and depth of Kick It Out’s work was discussed, such as the endemic issue of homophobia in the game, how far English football has come since the dark days of the 70’s and 80’s, when terrace racism went unchecked, and how crucial the club is to the local community it serves.Particular emphasis was given to the welfare of foreign players. Vincent Pericard’s talked about looking at how players from overseas can effectively ‘bed in’ to their new club surroundings, and in turn improve their chances of making an impact on the field.Stuart Holden spoke about the difficulty of having to adapt to different cultures for certain professional footballers. "I was born in Scotland, but grew up in America, and it was difficult for me to move away from family. It's very difficult for overseas players who can't bring their family with them and the culture and banter can be hard to get used to. It's difficult in every way to be away from home. It was when I settled into the Bolton Wanderers family that I felt truly settled here."
Agreeing with Holden’s outlook, Brown, talked about his experiences as part of the management team when it comes to foreign players. "It's very important to the club that the player settles in as well, because of their investment, and it crucial to help this process otherwise the club can fail the player. We had a player liaison officer and we were one of the first to do this, but it was very important to get the best out of the players, and helping them feel at home and comfortable in their surroundings is crucial to make that happen."
"It is very important to have someone independent you are comfortable with,” said Pericard, who moved from France to Italy as a professional as a teen.
“This can be inside or outside the club but someone that they can use as a sounding board and they can trust in, and to talk about a variety of issues.”Brown continued. “As a manager too, it’s crucial that a player settles in as well, because of the investment. If not, the club can fail the player. We had a player liaison officer here at Bolton and we were one of the first to do this, but it was very important to get the best out of the players, and helping them feel at home and comfortable in their surroundings is crucial to make that happen."
Ben Laycock from BWCT said “This event was the first of many, the panel we had was full of quality people who could offer real insight into the professional game and relate this to grassroots level”.
Bolton Wanderers to host Kick it Out Community Forum
Kick It Out will be tackling a range of issues surrounding equality and diversity by hosting a series of forums across the country over the next couple of months in a variety of venues including The Reebok.
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust will co-host the “One Game Bolton” forum on the 26th April along with Kick it Out and the Lancashire FA. A host of footballing personalities will be in attendance including Stuart Holden, current Wanderers player of the year, Former Bolton Captain & Assistant Manager Phil Brown, Bury Captain Efe Sodje and former England international Earl Barrett and will be discussing grassroots and community football whilst presentations will be given by Bolton Wanderers Community Trust and Lancashire FA about how they engage and deliver programmes in the local area.
For more inforamtion on the event please click here
BWCT & Bolton Solidarity Community Assocition visit Izmit Turkey
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust has continued its partnership work with the Bolton Solidarity Community Association and RV Projects, and recentley travelled to Izmit in Turkey with a group of young people who BSCA had been working with.
The group of young people led by BSCA have been working together to develop skills in team work and employability skills. This will lead to them gaining a City & Guilds qualification. Whilst in Izmit they worked at a local youth centre.
They took part in renovating and maintaining the facilities as well as attending sessions and working with the young people. The group of young people presented the Mayor with a signed shirt from Tuncay on behalf of Bolton Wanderers Community Trust.
Ben Laycock and Paul Makinson from BWCT accompanied the group and whilst in Izmit provided football sessions to a group of street children who attend the centre with the assistance of the BSCA group.
The coaching session’s ran daily and looked at developing not only the young players but also the coaches that delivered to them normally. The climax of the trip was a tournament which was played between four local teams where everyone was a winner.
BWCT presented the centre with a Bolton kit which they will be able to use when they play games. The young people really appreciated the gesture and looked forward to playing in it against other local teams.
The impact that the visits had on the young people was really shown whilst Ben and Paul where out in the town centre, Paul commented " Myself and Ben where wandering about town, when all of a sudden we heard our names being shouted, not knowing anyone in Izmit we wondered who it was, only for a few of the young people to come running towards us, asking when more football would be happening and shaking our hands, this happend on a couple of occasions with different young people from the sessions."
As well as football sessions, the trip was also about building links, the group took part in the weekly Izmit Bike ride, which is organised by the Mayor and allows people to take part for free in a 10km cycle ride once it is completed the group then socialises whilst having a traditional Turkish breakfast.
On the final day of the trip Paul and Ben travelled to the University of Kocaeli, where they delivered a seminar on the work BWCT is currently carrying out in the local community to a variety of people including ex professionals, Coaches and Sports students and also did a coaching session to the Students around community coaching.
Ben Laycock Said “ The trip was a great insight into another countries outlook on sport and working with disadvantaged young people , the facilities they had were good and allowed us to coach the young people. The seminar at the University was a great experience and we met and talked to a lot of people with a keen interest at looking at our work and adapting it to their own areas. We have developed a good link with the Izmit council and also the University and are looking to develop more work to allow young people of Bolton the chance to learn new skills and develop themselves”
BWCT Support Show Racism the Red Card
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust kicked off their One Game One Community weeks of action by hosting over 80 pupils from Chorley New Road, St Ethelbert’s, Red Lane, St Paul’s & St Peter’s and Claypool School’s to a Show Racism the Red Card educational event.
Lofty and SRtRC education Officer Christian Roberts
Pupils and staff were greeted on arrival by Lofty who welcomed them to the Platinum suite in the Reebok stadium
The afternoon event saw pupils engaged in an anti-racism workshop delivered by SRtRC Education officer and ex professional footballer Christian Roberts.
Gretar explains how racism has affected him in life
During the session the young people discussed and gave their ideas and thoughts on racism and learnt about different forms of racism and their consequences along with discovering different cultures from around the world affecting their lives using football as a tool for delivery.
Phil Mason, Paul Makinson & Darren Pratley answer questions from the pupils
After a short break the pupils were joined by Bolton 1st team players Gretar Steinsson and Darren Pratley as well as BWCT’s Paul Makinson and Phil Mason the club chaplain.
Pupils had the opportunity to ask questions about racism in sport and society to the panel of players which saw some testing questions such as “when did the whole concept of racism start?” and “I think what is on the outside doesn’t matter, it’s what’s on the inside that counts do you agree?
Darren & Gretar sign the t-shirts for the best question winners
The best question asked during the Q&A session received Bolton Wanderers tickets for the One Game One Community fixture against AFC Sunderland and a singed Wanderers football and also a signed SRtRC t-shirt by Gretar and Darren. Whilst the 2 other lucky pupils also received match tickets and a signed SRtRC t-shirt for the quality of their questions.
The players with the competition winners
Ben Laycock BWCT Community Cohesion Manager said:
“We are proud to stand alongside the work that is carried out by Show Racism the Red Card. We are very committed to the programme and we continue to support such a worthy organisation.”
Pupils had an exclusive opportunity to receive signed 2011/12 Bolton Wanderers FC poster and other goodies which they took could take away from the event.
The day was a great occasion for the pupils and their teachers were very positive about the outcomes and importance of the event and are keen to continue with anti-racist education in their classroom.
Community Cohesion supports Spirit of Bolton
On Saturday 10 September BWCT supported the Spirit of Bolton Event held in Victoria Square. The event, in which the residents of Bolton come together to celebrate the diversity of Bolton was a huge success as various groups took part in showcasing their work through drama performances, singing and Bollywood dancing.
There was a wide variety of activities for people to enjoy from the "super shot" chip it in challenge to food tasting as well as face painting, henna painting and health checks.
There was also a wide selection of performances that kept the crowd entertained throughout the day such as Clog dancers and The Shree Swaminarayan Gadi Pipe Band. Bolton FM covered the event live interviewing participants from the event.
Paul Makinson BWCT Education & Awareness officer said “it was great to see so many people coming together to celebrate the diversity of Bolton. The event has been a huge success and is something Bolton Wanderers Community Trust is more than willing to support. This was a great event for Bolton to showcase and celebrate their diversity and one that we will look forward to coming to again”
For more information on upcoming events click here.
Community Cohesion Provides Free Summer Football in Deane
During the course of the summer holidays our community cohesion department, working alongside Bolton Solidarity Community Association (BSCA) held free fun football sessions in the Deane area. The football ran at three separate locations including Spar Road, Quebec Rec Area and Bobby Haywoods for the entirety of the holidays.
The sessions where a huge success with the young people and as a special treat we managed to arrange for the group to go up to the new Eddie Davies Academy where they got to experience playing on one of the best academy set ups in the premier league.
Thanks must go out to Bolton Wanderers Football Club for their continuous support. Without their support we would not be able to hold such events at what is a world class location.
For more information on our community work click here.
Inter Faith Tournament
During the morning of Saturday 11 June Bolton Wanderers Community Trust’s Unity in Diversity team held a football tournament which took place at the Reebok Stadium.
The tournament was run in a league format with six teams taking part; each team having the opportunity to test their skills against one anther on what is one of the very best playing services around.
The top four teams from the league went through to the semi finals with the winners of the league playing the team that finished fourth and second place playing the team that came in third. The winners from each semi final then went on to play for the right to call them selves the 2011 inter faith tournament champions.
Deane Academy were represented by two teams that stormed into the semi finals and eventually meeting each other in the final. The other two teams that managed to reach the semi finals were North Bolton Support Group and Pikes Lane Community Club.
Paul Makinson the Education and Awareness Officer said “it was great to see young people from different backgrounds coming together in what was a fantastic football tournament and one that was played in a competitive but friendly manner. There was some great football on show and all teams should be proud of what they have achieved”
A huge thank you must go out to the four young adults that gave up their spare time to volunteer and help referee the games. The volunteers have been working with Bolton Wanderers Community Trust for a long time now in various projects that we run throughout Bolton, two came from the Kickz project whilst the other two are involved in the Get Off The Bench project.
We must also mention Bolton Wanderers Football Club for their continued support which helps us provide events such as these.
For further information on BWCT community cohesion work within your area please click here
Bolton Big Tidy Up
During the February Half term Bolton Wanderers Community Trust were involved in Bolton Big Tidy Up. The event organised by the local council and the Halliwell Neighbourhood management team was a huge success as we managed to clear up a significant area of Halliwell collecting over 30 bags of rubbish.
The weather on the day was a typical winter’s day however the constant rain and piercing winds didn't put the people off from turning up in their numbers
All staff and volunteers were split up into groups and given a litter picker and gloves then sent out to clean the streets. Each group managed to clean up their designated areas and once more, had fun doing it. The groups were then treated to pasty and peas for all their hard work.
Thanks must go out to all the volunteers that gave up their free time thus enabling an event such as this to go ahead.
Paul Makinson, Education and Awareness Officer said "it was fantastic to see the community working together helping to clean up the streets of Bolton"
For more information on current activities click here
Local school's to attend educational event at Bolton Wanderers FC
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On Thursday the 13th of October BWCT will welcome up to 100 young people from Chorley New Road, St Ethelbert’s, Red Lane, St Peter & St Paul’s, Claypool and St Mary’s Primary Schools. They will attend the Reebok to take part in a educational event delivered by Show Racism the Red Card. During the afternoon they will discuss issues relating to racism and watch Show Racism the Red Card’s latest DVD featuring top international footballers. They will then have the opportunity to pose questions to a panel which will include current Bolton Wanderers 1st team players, Local religious leaders and SRtRC patron Christian Roberts.
Ged Grebby, Chief Executive of Show Racism the Red Card said “SRtRC have been fortunate to enjoy great support from Bolton Wanderers FC for our campaign over the years. They have hosted educational events with SRtRC and are keen to impart a positive message to young people. This kind of event is ideal for addressing the subject of racism, thanks to the support of the club and the community department we have been able to organise an event that is both educational and fun. We are confident that the anti-racist message presented on the day will further illustrate the club’s commitment to tackling racism through education and will help show young people from the area that there is no room for racism in Bolton; in football or in society.”
Ben Laycock, BWCT Community Cohesion Manager said: “The Trust is thrilled to be welcoming the Show Racism the Red Card team back to the Reebok. The education event is always a hit with Bolton schools and is a good way to get the important message’s around the issue of racism across to the young people of Bolton. Having the support of Bolton Wanderers Football Club and the players adds to the event. This backing allows the children to find out about real life experiences that their heroes’ have suffered and how they have dealt with these situations with them.”
All of the young people will leave with a goody bag of Show Racism the Red Card’s resources.
to read about how the event went please click here
Gretar Wraps Up SCARF project
The young people involved in the SCARF project were introduced to Gretar Steinsson during their final theory lesson.
Gretar stopped by and helped pupils to come up with their own definitions of racism. He also took questions from the group regarding racism in football and about his team mates.
Paul Makinson said “having the opportunity for a professional footballer to come into the session and advocate the message we are trying to spread was vital in backing up the theory work we have been delivering over the last 8 weeks”.
Having Gretar wrap up the SCARF project was a fantastic opportunity for the children to interact with one of their idols. The experience I am sure will live long in the memory of the young people.
To end the project we held a tournament at Bolton Arena before going to watch Bolton Wanderers play West Ham Untied in a Premiership football game. The teams for the tournament where drawn on the day and consisted of players from both schools. Each participant wore their BWCT tracksuit so we all had the same uniform as we came together to celebrate the work we had completed on improving community cohesion.
Each participant also took part in our final presentation and received certificates congratulating them on completing the course.
SCARF project
Over 40, year 7 pupils from Bolton School Boys' Division and Sharples Secondary School have demonstrated their commitment to improving the community they live in by taking part in the Community Trusts SCARF project (Schools Cohesion Anti-Racism Football project).
The SCARF project aims to improve community cohesion within schools in our community and tackle some of the issues raised by racism. SCARF is run over nine weeks and contains both theory and physical lessons at the pupils own school. In the final week all the pupils will be bought together where they will be mixed into teams and take part in a football tournament and social interaction sessions. This will be followed by the young people attending the Premier League game between the Wanderers and West Ham.
These SCARF sessions began on Thursday 30 January and have already proven to be a huge success.
Paul Makinson BWCT Education and Awareness officer said “The young people are clearly enjoying the experience of mixing theory and practical sessions. The skills that they are learning will be easily transferable to both a football field and everyday life which will hopefully enable them to live in a closer, safer and more stable community.”
Prior to Bolton Wanderers match against Stoke City some of the BRK crew had the chance to meet Bolton Skipper Kevin Davies.
Body Rockin Kidz Street Dance
The Body Rockin Kidz Street Dance crew can be found being put through their paces each Friday night at the Halliwell UCAN centre.The Crew are lead buy fully qualified dance instructor Kat Fitton, who has built them up from complete novices to competition winners.
Due to the success of the group the sessions are now split by age
| Day |
Venue |
Age |
Start Time |
End Time |
| Friday |
Halliwell Ucan |
6-12 Years Old |
6:00pm |
7:30pm |
| Friday |
Halliwell Ucan |
12-18 Years Old |
7:30pm |
9:00pm |
The Body Rocking Kidz Street Dance crew have already had some excellent performances, showing their skills in front of the Mayor of Bolton and regularly on the Reebok pitch during the half time interval.
They are continually developing and have entered and won competitions so if you think you can dance or would love to learn...why not come along and join in!? All sessions are completely FREE!
New Sessions coming soon...
For more information on this or any other up and coming activities available through OBIA please contact Paul Makinson on 01204 673790.