MEDIA RELEASE EAGLES SOAR WITH IRISH FOOTBALL FUN • Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation delivered week of free football and coach development to over 100 young people • Sessions delivered in Shankill Road and Ballymurphy Estate areas of Belfast • Sessions visited by Junior Minister Jennifer McCann MLA • Part of wider Active Communities Network ‘Urban Stars’ summer programme Croydon/Belfast– Tuesday 13 August 2013: After Ian Holloway’s Crystal Palace F.C. side beat Waterford United 4-0 in the south of Ireland in the final stages of their pre-season campaign ahead of the new Premier League season, the Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation delivered football coaching and coach development sessions in Belfast. In partnership with grassroots community sports delivery specialists Active Communities Network, the sessions took place at the Hammer Leisure Centre on Shankill Road and the Bunscoil An Tsleibhe Dhuibh Primary School in the Ballymurphy Estate. The links between Palace and Ireland can be traced a long way back in history and in recent years many Palace players have gone on to represent the national sides including Iain Dowie, Ray Houghton, Steve Staunton and Clinton Morrison alongside current players Patrick McCarthy and Damien Delaney. Over the course of the week over 100 local young people attended the sessions delivered by Pete Bethell, Crystal Palace F.C. U14-U17 Head Development Coach and Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation Community Coach Mark Smith alongside Director of Sports Development at the Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation, Gary Mulcahey. "The event has been brilliant and everyone has been so friendly and welcoming,” said Mulcahey. “The players we have coached have been very committed, enthusiastic and have listened to us at all times - their attitude to learning is first class.” After the local youngsters were put through their paces the Palace coaches then turned their hand to ‘coaching the coaches’ at the end of the week with a special invite-only event session for locals involved with the grassroots game. All participants received a Palace training shirt or lunchbox and some even mastered the famous Palace ‘We Love You’ football chant. The week also saw a special ‘Family Fun Day’ in partnership with the local Upper Springfield Integrated Partnership, where local families came together to participate in and learn about healthy living, and were treated to a surprise visit by the Junior Minister from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Jennifer McCann MLA, who was full of praise for the elite coaching that young people in Belfast received. “Can I firstly say how delighted I was to meet with the Crystal Palace F.C. coaches and I would also like to pass on my praise for the on-going work that Active Communities Network does in the surrounding areas,” she said. “As Junior Minister responsible for children, young people and building united communities, I see this work as essential in bringing young people together through the positive medium of sport. “The communities here see the value of sport to engage young people and I look forward to forging closer links with both Crystal Palace F.C. and Active Communities Network in the future" The Crystal Palace F.C. coaches were even given some special seeds from the Upper Springfield Integrated Partnership Community Garden to take back to SE25 and plant. The garden aims to introduce local produce and gardening knowledge into the local community in conjunction with sports sessions to promote healthy living. “Healthy living is a big part of what we do here and it was brilliant to see over 100 young people benefit from the brilliant Crystal Palace F.C. coaching in Ballymurphy and Shankill” said Jim Donnelly, Programme Manager for Active Communities Network in Belfast. “I look forward to the future and developing the partnership with Palace in Belfast and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the individual coaches and young people that made the week so successful. “We hope to visit Selhurst Park soon and we wish the Eagles all the best for their new Premier League campaign.” For more information about Active Communities Network in Northern Ireland please contact Jim Donnelly at [email protected]. -ENDS- Note for Editors:- 1 – For more information about the Crystal Palace FC Foundation please contact Donald Forde, Head of Foundation on 020 8768 6047, email [email protected] or visit www.cpfcfoundation.org For more information about Active Communities Network please contact Andrew McSteen, Media & Communications Officer on 020 7407 8177 ext. 202, email [email protected] or visit www.activecommunities.org.uk 2 – The Crystal Palace FC Foundation (originally Football in the Community) was established in 1989 and became a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity in August 2008 with a board of five Trustees to advise and support its programme agenda. Since its inception the community programme has continued to expand and develop to the extent that it has now grown into an organisation that employs 14 full time staff and 40 sessional coaches and is widely acknowledged as a high quality service provider by its customers and associated partners. The Foundation delivers a comprehensive and diverse sports and educational programme throughout the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton and works with a host of major partners including The Premier League, The Football League, The Football Association, The PFA (Professional Footballer’s Association), Football Foundation, FA 1st 4sport qualifications, Kickz, Football Aid, Barclays Spaces For Sport, Croydon Council, The Prince’s Trust, The Metropolitan Police, PACT (Personal Attainment/Community training) , Active Communities, Pro-Active London, Kick It Out, Greenwich Leisure Limited, Texaco, Local Authority Sports Development Units, Crystal Palace FC, Study Centre and Crystal Palace FC Ladies. The Foundation’s main areas of work are Football and multi-sports development, Social Inclusion, Health and Education, Disability and Women and Girl’s Football. Working within a broad age spectrum of delivery for 3 to 19 year olds, the Foundation has consistently achieved over 100,000 participation attendances in recent years and aims to attain even higher figures in the future. The Foundation is accredited with The Football League Silver Standard Community Scheme Award. 3 - Active Communities Network is a delivery and management charity with offices in Northern Ireland (Belfast) and South Africa (Cape Town) alongside headquarters in United Kingdom (London). Active Communities Network delivers grassroots activities using the mediums of sport, physical activity, arts and cultural activity to deliver and promote personal, social and community development supporting young people and communities across the UK and overseas. As part of a wider education, training and employment network, Active Communities Network provides vocational training, education, citizenship and work experience which develops new training qualifications, curriculum development and volunteering and work placement programmes that directly support and develop both project participants and the workforce that works with them. Active Communities Network has a commitment to research and evaluation, sharing best practice and working with strategic, funding and like-minded delivery agencies to shape the wider field of sport, arts and community development and to develop strategic and delivery partnerships with organisations to promote the wider network and sport for urban development agenda. 4 - Urban Stars uses sport to engage vulnerable young people who are identified as being marginalised from mainstream society. Project delivery: Lambeth In Lambeth the Urban Stars project primarily works on the Moorlands housing estate where a newly formed partnership between Urban Stars and a local housing association has recently created an opportunity for programme delivery. On the Moorlands estate, and in surrounding areas, youth crime and gang-related affiliations are major issues resulting in a large proportion of young people feeling socially excluded from their communities and neighbourhoods. The Urban Stars project, in partnership with the local housing association, has been utilising facilities to provide a variety of sporting activities to engage with ‘at-risk’ young people in order to effectively tackle these issues. Southwark In Southwark, Urban Stars delivery predominantly focuses on the Aylesbury housing estate and works in conjunction with a variety of local community partners. These partnerships have sought to enhance a well-established ‘sport for social inclusion’ infrastructure that is embedded in the cultural fabric of the estate through the work of Active Communities Network and its programme leaders, mentors and youth workers. Rapport between project workers and local residents, neighbours and community leaders has allowed leaders to deliver all aspects of the Urban Stars programme ranging from youth work courses to football tournaments. Urban Stars delivery in Croydon has focused on the communities in South Norwood, Selhurst and Thornton Heath. Within these communities youth crime, exclusion and gang membership is a major concern with the area covering the intersection of three London boroughs and being seen as a focal point for conflict. Current delivery continues to utilise the universality of football within London and embeds a curriculum (highly influenced by funding) that