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Burnley FC in the Community & Burnley FC Academy team up for new project

2023-11-05T16:00:00.000Z

BFCITC LAUNCH ACADEMY IN THE COMMUNITY

Burnley FC in the Community & Burnley FC Academy team up for new project

2023-11-05T16:00:00.000Z

Burnley FC in the Community & Burnley FC Academy team up for new project

On Wednesday 25th October, Burnley FC in the Community, the Club's official charity, and Burnley FC Academy launched phase one of a brand new initiative called 'Academy in the Community'.

The idea of the programme is to expose the Academy scholars, and over time, the younger players within the academy, to projects delivered by Burnley FC in the Community to participants of all ages and backgrounds.

Burnley FC in the Community want the scholars to gain a greater understanding of Burnley as a town and to be able to positively engage with members of the local community by having a regular presence at community projects.

The scholars will begin to experience what it is like to engage in public speaking, improve their communication and relationship building skills and to generally feel more confident in new environments. It is hoped that these will be valuable skills that all players can use later in life no matter where their football journey takes them.

After a brief talk from Chris Andrews, Community Director of Football, Sport and Education at Burnley FC in the Community, the scholars had the opportunity to meet the project managers and coordinators, to learn about the work being delivered in Burnley and the surrounding areas.

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The 1st year scholars then had the pleasure of visiting the charity's No Nay Never Forget Dementia Café and activity camps at The Leisure Box. For some, it was their first experience of being in an environment where they were the centre attention and having to engage in conversation with new people from different generations. It is fair to say that one or two were definitely out of their comfort zone!

Moving forward, the Academy scholars will now choose one of the many community projects, where they will become a regular attendee. They’ll get to know the staff and participants better and have a positive impact on the delivery of sessions. The charity and Academy wish to ensure the players experience is a positive one, which they look forward to sharing with other players, staff members, friends & family. Participants thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with the academy players.

After weeks of planning and discussions, it was exciting to see the project come to fruition and the intention is to roll it out year on year.

Chris Andrews, BFCitC's Director of Football, Sport & Education said: "It was a great start to what we believe will be an amazing project for both Burnley FC in the Community and the Academy.

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"We want to give the players an experience where they genuinely feel part of the wider club, the town and the community whilst exposing them to situations and environments that will support their off-pitch development. A football player's journey is never guaranteed and whilst we have a pool of talented young men in the building, it is important that we provide them with the tools to be successful later in life and ensure they enjoy every minute of their time spent with us. The club and community mean so much to our participants and to see their smile and enjoyment when engaging with the players is something money can’t buy."

Academy Player Care Lead, Chris Heap added: "This is an invaluable experience for our boys, as an academy it is our role to improve our players on the pitch but also to add value to them as people . We aim to do this through our Academy Life Skills programme and this partnership with BFCitC has given our players a real insight into the club, community and people they represent as Burnley FC players.

"The vast majority of our players are not from the local area, so we feel this is vital and it has been great to see the boys interacting with the BFCitC staff and a wide range of participants. We want our players to utilise the time they have away from the pitch in a constructive way and we feel them adopting a community project for the season is a great way to do this."

Finally, U18s player Ben Jordison felt the benefits from attending the session.

"I think the community programme is so beneficial for everyone involved. It’s such a great character builder and just by a simple conversation this can make people smile which is the main thing. It aims to help people in need and is an important part of their enjoyment, I’ve been so glad to be a part of this and can’t wait to get involved."