Footy for all - in the Heart of the community!

PICTURED: Westlea Neighbourhood Worker Katie Scaife (right) with the young people and coaching staff for Footy4All in Chippenham.

Young people in the Hill Rise area of Chippenham are able to enjoy weekly football coaching sessions thanks to funding from Have a Heart - the charity Wiltshire’s new radio station Heart has launched as part of its new commitment to supporting local disadvantaged kids.

At a ceremony at at Blunsdon House Hotel recently, presenters Jez, Roo, Greenie and Howard Taylor all helped to distribute £100,000 to projects whose work will directly benefit kids who experience the negative effects of poverty, abuse, neglect, homelessness, violence crime and disability.

The Chippenham 'Footy4All' project received £1500 following an application by Westlea Housing Association. Westlea's neighbourhood worker Katie Scaife, who made the application for funding, says that the popular Friday afternoon sessions at Barrow Green started last year, but would have ended at the end of March if Heart hadn’t given this support.

"The young people now have the opportunity to learn and practice team playing - and using good quality equipment, they feel valued and gain a sense of pride in themselves and the area," says Katie.

"This also enables them to try things in football they haven’t tried before. It gives them a sense of the ‘real thing’ and encourages dreams and aspirations in the sporting field!"

The radio station received 78 applications from local charities and voluntary groups with the total ‘ask’ for funds totalling over £268,000. It was down to the station's Grants Panel to make the very difficult decision on which projects to support. The final decision was made to support 28 local projects with over 3,300 kids across Wiltshire directly benefitting from these funds.

Charity Manager Caroline Langmaid said "This was a particularly hard job this year to decide on so many projects. I didn’t envy the panel at all in trying to make their decision. This project in Hill Rise, Chippenham, is a great example of helping the local community come together."