After the highs of the opening day win against Accrington, the drama of the penalty shootout win at Exeter and the destruction of Cheltenham Town last weekend, the Chairboys were saved by a last-gasp Anthony Stewart header up at the DW on Tuesday night and return to Adams Park with plenty of momentum for today’s clash with Lincoln City.
Momentum: it’s key in football, it’s key in business and it is also key in all of our lives and is something that we have been keeping in the front of our minds here at Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust this month. We keep in mind the words of the novelist Michael Korda, who said that “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals”.
As our Summer Soccer Camps continue to gain momentum since being restarted for this summer, the teams have been working hard to make sure they are the biggest and best we have ever offered. Our YouTube channel is the place to be for an interview with our Activity Programme Manager, Andy Homent, in which he explains what makes our WWSET summer camps stand out from the rest. We also interviewed Jaiden, Isaac and Samuel who were taking place in the sessions and gave their thoughts on the camps.
The interviews were great for hearing how the sessions were going, and to ask some fun questions of the kids. In one of these interviews, Isaac, who is a goalkeeper and a member of the EDA team at Wycombe Wanderers, was asked who he would like to be like. “I’d like to be David Stockdale because he saves everything and is like a brick wall”. High praise, so we followed up by asking him if the Chairboys stopper was his favourite player in that case. “Probably not, I prefer Akinfenwa” was his answer! We’re really sorry, Stocko! In another, we asked Samuel if he thought the blues could overcome Villa in the Football League trophy in a couple of weeks. “Aston Villa to win 3-1” was his slightly surprising answer. He then unzipped his jacket to reveal his Villa shirt and his allegiance to the Midlands team in claret and blue! We’ll just put that straight in a file marked “Blooper Reel”!
Author Adam Braun said “For any movement to gain momentum, it must start with a small action.”, and this is true of our Stepping Stones: The Basics of Running course that started this week. The 12-week course is more than a running club and focuses on the ‘other bits’ of running, such as flexibility, core strength and agility that help runners meet their goals, whether your targets are to run your first 5k or to set a new marathon personal best. Run by Coach Paul Dineen of Run Right Coaching, and in association with Handy Cross Runners, Stepping Stones is sure to help you reach your goals. For more information and to join, please see details on our website www.wwset.co.uk or email mark.fawkes@wwfc.com. Take the first step and take the small action required to gain momentum in your running.
The hit 90’s TV show, Changing Rooms, returned on Channel 4 this week, and we have been changing lives with our own Changing Rooms project. Changing Rooms is our flagship Education and Employability course and our participants have been working on key vocational skills, such as CV writing and vocational training, in an attempt to get them closer to rejoining the workforce. As a result of the project, 2 participants are now volunteering with our Health & Wellbeing Department, 1 participant has applied to be a matchday steward at WWFC on a match day, 1 participant has applied for a part-time job during the week and a weekend job at WWFC and 2 others have taken up opportunities to take part in other WWSET projects. With not a single Dulux dog in sight anywhere!
Our Play Into Space took a breather last week due to a fixture clash at the location, but it returned this week refreshed and ready to go. It has been really nice to see the group again, and a rather spirited Table Tennis tournament the talk of the group this week. The Play Into Space youth club is run in association with Buckinghamshire Council but is funded by the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber,and Matthew has agreed to join us for a session in the near future, so we look forward to seeing what his Pool and Mario Kart skills are like!
WWSET would like to extend a massive thanks to our new and returning Friends of WWSET, who have shown us great support by investing in our work. New partners include Absolute Label Services, Activate Camps, ADA Music, Buckinghamshire Council Adoption Services, Captain Oi Records, Cherry Red Records, Foster with Bucks, Hybridge Partners, Key Production, Luker Rowe, Martin & Co and Warner Music Group. We thank you all and look forward to working with you more in the future. Despite the project only launching a couple of weeks ago, it has seen great momentum built and there are many partners in the pipeline, and we are still on the lookout for new partners, and information on the project can be found at www.wwset.co.uk/friends-of-wwset-overview/
Some team news from WWSET now, and our starting lineup is seeing some changes as we look to maintain and build momentum in all of our projects. We would like to say a massive thanks to Claire Hawes, Mark Heath and Georgia Grou who are all moving on to pastures new at the end of next week. Guys, your service has been amazing, and we wish you all the best in the future – we want to see how you continue to grow professionally, so please keep in touch with us!
We are pleased, however, to welcome Mark Guildea as our new Head of Education and Simon Wears as our new Head of Health. More to follow on their appointments, but we wish them the best of luck in their new roles. The challenges continue to come with isolation periods and holidays so we’d like to thank our amazing team for their continued flexibility and a phenomenal work ethic to keep things rolling along. Well done everyone!
Momentum is building and we are pushing forward into next week with a freshness usually only seen in rows of ice in the supermarket fish counter! It has been great to see so many Wycombe Wanderers shirts on the kids at the sessions recently – proof that the on-field momentum is continuing to spread across the community (and that gold away kit really looks great on everyone!)
Finally, we are thrilled to welcome Owen and Ben to Adams Park today as guests of WWSET, who joined us this week for a stadium tour and to help coach at our summer camp. Keep your eyes peeled to our website and socials for their reports on their time with us.
Momentum. The key to many good things in life and here’s hoping that the Chairboys can keep the momentum up and take three points today against the Imps. Up The Wyc!
