Aspiring soccer stars have been awarded a £1,000 grant from Tesco to promote health and equality among youngsters.
Watcombe Wanderers Football Club was one of the successful applicants to the Tesco Bags of Help community grant scheme, which the supermarket runs in association with the charity Groundwork.
Members of the South Devon club, which has more than 200 children in its range of teams, went along to the Newton Abbot Superstore to receive their grant and meet the staff.
The club, which plays on pitches at Milber, will put the money towards grounds maintenance and upkeep to ensure that young people will be able to play there for years to come.
Matthew Phillips, the club’s chairman, said: “We’re very grateful to Tesco for this funding. COVID has brought a stop to grassroots football, which has been tough on the children.
“They’ve really missed playing, but the FA has been great in supporting us to get the children back playing again. It’s been hard work to keep everyone safe, but we’re getting there.
“We’ve always had girls involved in the club. We plan to develop this further, and money like this from Tesco really does make a difference.”
The long-established club trains players ranging in age groups from 3-5s to adults, and is looking to establish a veterans team for over-40s in the future.
Janette Parker, Tesco Community Champion at the Superstore, said: “We’re delighted to see Watcombe Wanderers benefiting from our Bags of Help community grant scheme.
“The funding selection panel that chose the club were impressed by their involvement with so many people in the community, and especially their enthusiasm for promoting girls’ football, which is I know is growing in popularity all the time.
“We’re very much a community store here and love to be involved with local organisations, so to be a part of the great work being done at Watcombe Wanderers Football Club is lovely.”
Alex Forrester, Corporate Partnership Manager from Groundwork, said they have seen a wide variety of community groups come forward for Bags of Help funding, including outdoor activities, mental health charities, young carers, bereavement counselling, and charities working with vulnerable children.
He added: “We see day to day the incredible work groups such as Watcombe Wanderers Football Club do, but also how much they need funding to operate, which is often hard to come by, so it is fantastic to work with Tesco to be able to give a little help to some of them.”
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