Local community heroes will be celebrated up and down the country from Friday 12th January to Saturday 20th January as the EFL, EFL Trust, 72 EFL Clubs and their Community Club Organisations launch the first-ever EFL Community Weekends.
Across the period, Clubs, managers and players will mark the incredible work that community staff and volunteers deliver 365 days per year, while participants from community programmes will be honoured by special visits from players and matchday activities.
During today’s fixture, there will be a number of initiatives running that highlight the incredible work of our own award-winning official charity, Bolton Wanderers in the Community.
Firstly, Bolton Wanderers will be celebrating two community heroes who will be walking out with the players at the start of the game. The stories of Emily Pendlebury and Amy Nolan-Podmore are featured on the Community page in today’s programme and on Bolton Wanderers in the Community’s socials and website.
In addition, in partnership with Bolton Council, Bolton Wanderers in the Community will be providing free, family friendly activities and refreshments.
There will also be the opportunity to meet and chat with local organisations for information on how to access supporting on areas including energy costs, training and learning of digital skills, welfare and benefits advice, local family activities, help with childcare costs and borrowing and savings products.
We are also proud to be welcoming some very special guests to the Toughsheet Community Stadium today, as we partner with the charity ‘Box4Kids’, founded by the Barrie Wells Trust.
Box4Kids is about providing memorable experiences for seriously ill children by giving them a VIP matchday experience in an executive box. Wanderers are delighted to have the founder of the charity Barrie Wells at today’s fixture, as well as four very special children along with their families as our guests.
Finally, today we launch our new in-stadium commentary service for visually impaired fans which will be available for home fixtures, starting from today's game against Cheltenham Town.
Audio Description (AD) commentary is a specialist form of commentary that provides listeners with detailed descriptions of all the action as it occurs during a match.
Following fan consultation via a disability forum with Bolton Supporters’ Trust, Bolton Wanderers in the Community and Bolton Wanderers Disabled Supporters’ Association, the club has partnered with sound and vision specialists Alan March Sport (AMS), who provide the same service for a number of other clubs across England and Wales.
The club advertised for commentators for the service in the autumn of last year, holding a training day at the stadium. The team selected have been practicing and learning from experienced AD commentators over the past two months and are now ready to cover every moment for fans inside the ground.
Fans who take up the service will be able to listen to the commentary via receivers around the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
The service is free to use and receivers can be booked ahead of a match by emailing tickets@bwfc.co.uk at least 24 hours prior to kick-off.
For more information on the EFL Community Weekends and the impact of EFL Club community work please visit www.efl.com or www.bwitc.org.uk.