Making a change..

We are a local Grassroots football club based in West Gorton. We have been running for just over 12 months. All coaches are volunteers and all club funds that are generated are put back into the club (league fees, training fees, kit costs etc)

Since we set up we have been using a local sports facility to train/play however at £30 an hour for a small amount of space we soon realised that to put everything back into these local children and this local community the way we wanted to it was not a cost that we could manage week in week out.

A week into starting our grassroots football journey we spotted an area of land next to a school that was growing and growing with weeds and brambles and was not being used. From the moment we saw this land we were determined to make a change.

For a whole 12 months we drove by this land day in day out only to be disheartened by the fly tipping, the destruction and the mess. Every day for 12 months we visited council offices, spoke to local schools, spoke to local people and tried with everything we had to find out how we could get hold of the land.

May 2018 we got a call...THE SITE WAS OURS! FINALLY! 12 months of chasing, asking questions and nagging someone had listened!

The day we received the keys we were in...

- Tonnes of fly tipping removed - knives/needles/ stolen property removed -Grass cut -brambles removed -Field secured -Maintenance items bought -Litter picking -Recycling put in place

The list is endless..... but then came the rewards ...

We held a mini tournament, training sessions, matches, reduced training costs and brought back to the community a hub of respect and a place to socialise.

The pitch is looking FANTASTIC! and the buzz around the community is unbelievable!

We currently have 28 children Age 4-6 at Development Squad, 16 teams from age U6-U12, 30+ children of mixed age at a Friday evening open session and we are set to run a summer holiday camp for the local children.

So why are we on here asking for help? We are here because so much has been done already but with no funding and no council help. We have fully funded this renovation from our own pockets, with item donations from local company's and from running our own fundraising days. As mentioned above this isn't a business this is about the children and the community.

We currently do not have access to any toilets and are using a local supermarket but this has a big impact on the time the children spend at the pitch. We have asked the council for a toilet for the 6 week holiday camp but they cannot help us.

We have just also found out that all the nets currently there are being taken from us by next week and we are being told to buy and use our own.

We are in desperate need of portable toilet hire for summer camp at a minimum cost of around £200!

We are in desperate need of Football nets at a cost of around £1800!

We are in desperate need of a storage container at a cost of around £1000

We have come this far and we will NOT be giving up now but we are asking for help to give these children the basics that they deserve.

Thank you for taking the time to read our journey so far.....