Issue - meetings

- Paul Douglas and Brian Chapple, Rotherham United Football Club to present

Paul Douglas, Chief Operating Officer, and Brian Chapple, Rotherham United Football Club, were in attendance at the meeting to give a brief outline of the work of the Rotherham United Community Trust, the new Stadium and examples of health facilities within stadia.

Rotherham United Community Trust – formed in 1997

Mission Statement – “to utilise the brand of Rotherham United Football Club and the power of sport to positively influence and enhance the diverse livestyles of the people of Rotherham”

-        Education

o       Classrooms currently in temporary facilities – developed in partnership with public and private partners

o       51 apprenticeships working out of the GOALZ Centre – commended for the retention rates

o       Working across the Borough on issues such as anti-bullying and anti-truancy

-        Participation

o       Working in number of primary schools across the Borough delivering coaching where it might not otherwise be delivered

o       Players actively delivering mentoring

-        Cohesion

o       Full-time officer

o       Just received “Kick It Out” Equality Standard, the industry standard for football.  This had only been awarded to 30 clubs out of 90 and Rotherham was the only Club at its tier to receive the Award

-        Volunteering

o       1 of only 8 Clubs in the football world invited to pilot the National Citizen Service Programme and awarded the Leader of Best Practice nationally for the work the Club had led on

o       Currently there were 51 volunteers

-        Disability

o       The Disability Officer ran regular sessions for those with additional needs through the partnership with RMBC, ILS and Voluntary Sector Consortium

o       “Aiming High” project engaged over 40 young disabled people every week.  Afterschool coaching delivered

o       Healthy Hearts Programme set up to deliver multi-sport, diet and nutrition sessions for disabled adults

-        Heritage

• Call to Goal – an inter-generational project run last year looking back at the 1940-50’s that was now being rolled out as an educational package
• A further 2 heritage projects currently taking place which would be turned into education projects
• Official Historian had been appointed who was very knowledgeable about the Football Club and was working closely with the Heritage Project Officers.  There would be lots of examples in the new Stadium

-        Health

o       Wake Up Shake Up – Sessions took place prior to the school day promoting the importance of eating a good breakfast and giving children aged 7-11 years the opportunity to take part in some light exercise

o       Extra Time delivered in 4 care homes

o       Allotment project

It was stressed that the Trust had not been established due to the new Stadium but had been working for a number of years without any facilities delivering outreach work; the new Stadium would only improve and enhance its work.  It had taken a long time to get to the present situation with the Stadium but the Chairman had been clear that it had a role to play in the community.

Numerous meetings had taken place with organisations to explore and maximise the opportunities the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25