BOLTON WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB has embarked on an ambitious project with the aim to unite the Borough's diverse communities through the stronghold of the Wanderers brand.
Through the power of football and its standing in the community, Wanderers recognises Bolton as one of the country's most diverse towns, and aims to become the catalyst at developing harmony and unity amongst the many communities that make the Borough such an exciting place to live and work.
The Club, working with various communities in the area, both religious and culturally driven, has developed a Community Cohesion Strategy which is being championed by the Club but with the full support of Bolton Council along with the faith groups and communities themselves.
To successfully implement its strategy over the long-term, the Club has set up a strategic working group comprising of Club officials, community cohesion officers and business leaders.
To fortify its commitment to the importance of this unique project, Wanderers have successfully secured a mix of public and private funding to employ a community cohesion officer named Abdul Basit, who is now based with the successful Football in the Community team. Abdul's main responsibility is to undertake the role as conduit between the Club and the religious and culturally diverse communities(RCDC)communities, with the ultimate aim of unity between communities.
Already the Club has made great strides to unite the town with the promotion of social cohesion across the area:
"The Club recognises the fact that bridges need to be built within certain areas of the community " explained Wanderers' manager Sammy Lee.
"We want to build stronger relationships in order to bring these communities closer together through this very positive community cohesion message. Everyone at the Club, including the players is in full support of this ongoing project.
"Over the coming seasons we are committed to build these relationships and understand the needs of the community in an ever changing society. We will be targeting the RCDC communities to promote cohesion through a number of areas including football participation, increase of fanbase and encouraging more support at home matches from all corners of the Borough of Bolton."
Councillor Frank White, Bolton Council's Executive Member for Human Resources and Diversity welcomed the Club's approach. He said:
"Bolton Wanderers are well known all over the world and have established themselves as a major Premiership force. They represent the whole of the 'Bolton family' and I'm pleased to see what they are doing.
"I'm looking forward to the council working with them to promote cohesion amongst all our communities."
Moulana Mohammed Adam, General Secretary of the Bolton Council of Mosques, added:
"We fully support the community cohesion project led by Bolton Wanderers. I firmly believe this innovative and ground breaking project, devised jointly with all sectors of our diverse Bolton community, will help bring communities together and hopefully identify Bolton footballers of the future."
The Rt Revd David Gillett, Bishop of Bolton said:
"Sport offers marvellous opportunities to bring together people from a wide variety of backgrounds. I am proud of how Bolton keeps finding new and imaginative ways to unite people from different communities. We need to work and play in ways that respect each other's religion and culture while promoting togetherness. I am sure this project will add further quality to our community life."
Priti Meria, Spokesperson of the Bolton Hindu Forum, said:
"Great credit must be given to Bolton Wanderers Football Club for their proactive efforts in developing harmony between the many communities of Bolton. Bolton Hindu Forum fully supports this initiative and is happy to play a major role in the community cohesion strategy."
Canon Michael Williams, chair of the Christian Community Cohesion Group said:
"Community Cohesion, along with poverty of opportunity, is a major challenge in British society. Providing places where people can cross barriers is a crucial way forward and the crossing of barriers in sport, especially sport at the highest level, provides iconic symbols of social action as well as helping the young people get involved at a personal level."
The steering group meet on a bi-monthly basis to formalise its plans over the long-term and with the full backing of leaders across all major faiths - Christian, Muslim and Hindu - the BWFC Community strategy has become a vital component in developing harmony in the area and will be an inspiration for other areas to emulate across the country.
