The first round of funds awarded by the new Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund will help communities across England and Wales, totaling more than £600,000.
More than 60 EFL clubs will get critical financial support for programs ranging from addressing isolation and loneliness to enhancing fitness and mental health, expanding sports engagement, and investing in better football infrastructure in the local region.
Sky Bet introduced the Building Foundations Fund last year, agreeing to invest £6 million over six years as part of its record title partnership agreement with the EFL. A panel, including talkSPORT Breakfast Show host and Sky Bet ambassador Jeff Stelling, evaluates the proposals.
To launch the fund in 2023-2024, each EFL Club Community Organisation (CCO) was allocated an initial £10,000 to spend in existing programs or build new community projects.
According to the awards announced today, Leeds United will increase funding for its ‘Social Goals’ programme to combat isolation among the over-50s, Morecambe will purchase equipment to run health and fitness sessions for local communities, and Wycombe Wanderers will fund a Level 1 coaching course aimed at upskilling and reintegrating Aylesbury Prison prisoners into society.
Sunderland will be able to continue its ‘Wear Together’ project, which aims to raise exercise levels in those over the age of 55, while Crewe Alexandra will expand weekly football.
sessions held in the club for East European migrants and African asylum seekers.
Debbie Cook, EFL Director of Community, stated: “The investment offered by Sky Bet not only complements the fantastic work already being done by our clubs in the community, but also leaves a legacy that will remain for years to come.
“This commitment from Sky Bet shines a light on the breadth and depth of the work football is involved in across all of our communities and tells the powerful stories of the local community members who benefit from these initiatives and programmes.”
At the inauguration of the Fund in November, former Leicester City, Liverpool, and England striker Emile Heskey joined EFL chairman Rick Parry to illustrate the success of a walking football program in Blackburn Rovers was the first to receive the £10,000, which they used to fund the ‘Remember the Rovers’ programme, which organizes weekly sessions at Ewood Park to bring people with Alzheimer’s and dementia together. Former player and manager Tony Parkes, a club hero, attends the lessons on a regular basis.
Dan Colton, Managing Director of Sky Bet, stated: “You just have to look at the success of projects like ‘Remember the Rovers’ in Blackburn to see the impact the Building Foundations Fund has and will continue to have in the coming years.
“We’re incredibly proud of the Building Foundations Fund and our work with the clubs across the EFL to breathe new life into the community projects they run.” Last year, the EFL and Sky Bet agreed to a record agreement that would keep the sports betting brand as the League’s title partner until the end of the 2028-2029 season.
The alliance, which began in 2013, is one of the most long-standing and significant in professional sports. The collaboration is based on safer gaming and achieving shared objectives in a socially responsible manner.
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