Port Vale Foundation are delighted to announce that they have been selected to go to a public vote to receive funding to provide free sports activities every half term until summer 2020 for 5-13 year olds.
The funding would come from the 2019 Atlanta Community Fund which sees £60,000 awarded across 15 projects and 4 different funding levels, all of which will provide a positive impact in the local community.
All applicants rely on the community to have their say and the general public can vote by ‘Liking’ their chosen project through the Atlanta Community Fund Facebook Page with the community projects with the most votes going through to a final round which will be decided by a panel of judges.
The Port Vale Foundation’s application builds on the 2019 summer holidays pilot sessions where the foundation provided 24 free of charge weekly community football and glow sports sessions at 3 different sites (Port Vale Football Club, Norton and Sneyd Green). They were hugely popular and were highly successful in engaging young people, especially those whose families would not have been able to pay for them to attend charged sessions.
Should the Port Vale Foundation be successful they will build on those pilot sessions and reach out to local young people and engage them in positive activities promoting personal, health and social development, team building, discipline and decision making and the sessions will also help to build confidence whilst participants will be taking part in new sporting experiences.
Through the project Port Vale Foundation will also be looking to form 3 new football teams from each site which will give participants the opportunity to represent Port Vale at football tournaments both locally and nationally.
Inclusion Officer at the Port Vale Foundation, Sarah Minshall said, “We are proud that our provision is breaking down the barriers and social exclusions that some young people are faced with that are stopping them taking part in activities that are going to have a major impact in their lives. The children who have already taken part in the pilot projects previously would not have had the opportunity due to financial and social constraints that face their families. By taking that barrier away we have created an environment that is inclusive to all and has seen children from all different backgrounds integrate with each other and cohesively work together through the power of sport. We are proud that our project is playing a pivotal part in creating a community that is closer together and providing a ‘Safe Haven’ for children to play together and gain support and interventions to stop them falling into anti-social or criminal behaviour.”
To vote for the Port Vale Foundation head to bit.ly/VotePVFCFoundation public voting will end on 29th November 2019.