Bolton Wanderers Community Trust, who received the Community Club of the Year accolade at the Ladbrokes North West Football Awards recently, have released their Impact Report which highlights the vital work the charity has undertaken throughout 2019.
Their work within Bolton continues to grow from strength to strength and the report shows the reach and impact they have had within the community, which includes 33 projects delivered in Bolton reaching 11,522 participants who have received over 112,832 contact hours with 41% of the staff having transitioned from being a participant on one of the programmes.
Head of the Community Trust, Phil Mason, said: “Under the new ownership of the Club I am delighted that Sharon, Michael, Emma and Andy are really committed to ensuring this club remains at the heart of the community of Bolton and looks for further ways in which this work can grow and develop and I would like to thank them for their commitment to this vital work.
“This gives me the opportunity to offer a very sincere thank you to all who work and volunteer through the Community Trust, including a very strong and supportive board of Trustees. Without the dedication, the whole team shows this work would not be possible.”
One stirring example of how the Trust has made a positive impact is the story of Bailey, who the Trust have worked with for five years through their Positive Chances programme, which offers activities, opportunities and educational support for young people in the care system.
Bailey has been in care since he was four years old; he lives with one of his three brothers, living apart from his other two brothers. Whilst he enjoys school, he has always struggled academically, from this his school provided him with a learning mentor for English and Maths.
Bailey and his carers have always had a really positive relationship; however, when his schoolwork started to deteriorate, so did his behaviour both at home and at school. He began to struggle to sustain his relationship with his carers and teachers, his placement began to break down, and he was put on report, which escalated to another report which is the most severe the school has.
Bailey’s learning mentor knew about BWCT’s Mentoring Scheme and he decided to refer Bailey to us. Bailey also knew the BWCT staff as he had attended our summer activities over the past few years, where he had built up positive relationships with staff. Bailey chose to work with Greg as they had always connected well during summer activities.
Greg and Bailey starting working together on a weekly basis and often discussed Bailey’s behaviour during school, including the reasons for his behavioural outbursts during lessons.
Factors affecting his behaviour included a poor relationship with some of his teachers, how he missed his Mum and how he was worried about her and didn’t like being away from her.
They discussed coping mechanisms for his behaviour and how to switch his energy to focus in school. His behaviour began to improve and since then, Bailey has managed to stay off report at school.
Bailey has a real passion for music and singing, and Greg has taken him to a local studio, Harmony Youth Project, where Bailey has recorded three songs. He is performed one of his songs at the Voice4U Awards this last week in front of a crowd of over 400 young people and carers.
Bailey is also regularly attending a PL Kicks session with his friends, his excellent attendance at school and at Kicks has resulted in him being offered a volunteer placement with BWCT over the summer. Bailey is going to be doing his work experience with BWCT and wants to see what happens all across it.
He sees the work we put into and wants to do that himself with other children who access the care system.
Bailey said: “Since I’ve been working with Greg, I feel a lot more confident in my own ability. When I finish school I want to work at BWCT and help other looked after children and give something back.”
To view the BWCT’s 2019 Impact Report please click here.