Here's our recap of our 2023 at Port Vale Foundation
January
We had our first EFL Week of Action in January, one highlight was, now former, Vale keeper Jack Stevens coming along to our PL Kicks session.
PL Kicks aims to regularly engage young people of all backgrounds and abilities in football, sport and personal development activities.
February
We travelled to Leicester City's training ground for a PL Kicks Regional Tournament. With a number of other clubs taking part our journey ended at the semi final stage but it was clear to see that everyone had an incredible experience.
March
We invited Gilly Abbots to become a mascot with the help of her parents Jeff and Irene at our home game against MK Dons.
Gilly was born with cerebal palsy and a mild learning disability but that hasn't stopped her from enjoying life. She has been a Vale fan for life with thanks to her Dad Jeff.
This wonderful surprise gave Gilly the chance to become a mascot for the very first time and was an example of how we at Port Vale demonstrate that football is for everyone.
April
We were proud to host our first-ever community Iftar at Vale Park.
Parents from Unity FC and others in the community were invited to Vale Park as a way to build bridges with the club and allow them to show their reasons for fasting.
May
The Twinning Project is a partnership between HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and professional football clubs with the objective of twinning every prison in England and Wales with a local professional football club.
The aim is to engage approximately 48 prisoners per year in each of the 117 prisons in England and Wales in football-based programmes to improve their mental and physical health, wellbeing and obtain a qualification which will help improve their life chances and gain employment on release.
In May, women from Drake Hall Prison graduated from the Twinning Project completing courses in literacy, first aid and coaching. The coaching courses being taught by our very own staff.
June
We held our Annual Foundation Awards, a night to celebrate all of the fantastic work goes on within the Foundation and the wider Stoke-on-Trent community.
Our list of winners
Sport and Physical Activity Award | Gracie Curry
Partner Award | Sandon Primary Academy
Volunteer of the Year | Matt Wood
2023 Employee of the Year | Sarah Minshall
Participant of the Year | Misbah Mahmood
Community Engagement Award | Ahmed Maskeen
Education and Employability Award | Aiden Nixon
Health and Wellbeing Award | Fit Fans - Class of 2023
Programme of the Year | Port Vale Women and Girls Programme
Congratulations to all of our winners and nominees!
July
Our Golden Valiants ventured to Llandudno for their summer trip.
The Golden Valiants sessions at the Foundation allow the elderly in our community to come together and socialise whilst taking part in a number of activities.
August
Our Summer Football Camp took place in August which allows participants to take part in a range of football activities and they even get a chance to meet one or two Vale first team players.
September
To celebrate International Day of Peace we collaborated with Stoke City for a number of sessions to show the importance of football clubs in our community.
This included a game of walking football at Dimensions Leisure Centre and a litter pick walking from the Bet365 Stadium to Middleport.
October
Our Women's first team won their Women's FA Cup second round tie at Vale Park to advance to the third round.
The team had never progressed past the first round so this result was a huge accomplishment for everyone involved with the Women and Girls set up.
November
We spent the back end of October and early November with a number of our staff out in Kenya. Members of our Foundation team and volunteers travelled to Africa to make a difference in schools and the local community.
We sang with children, gave donations of food and toiletries and spent time building classrooms.
December
To round off the year the Valiants travelled to Staffordshire Children's Hospital at Royal Stoke. First team players brought gifts along with them to give to children who were receiving treatment over the festive period.
