From the 4th-8th April, Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust (WWSET), the official charity of Wycombe Wanderers FC, were delighted to work alongside the club to support the EFL Week of Action, a national campaign designed to celebrate football clubs’ positive impact within their communities.
Using the power of football, EFL Clubs and Club Community Organisations (CCOs) such as WWSET, collectively invest over £59m in our communities every year, engaging with some of the most vulnerable members of society.
In 2021, EFL Clubs and CCOs were recognised at both the Leaders Sports Awards and Sports Business Awards for the important and unique role they played in supporting their local communities during the pandemic, and the EFL Week of Action is designed to raise awareness and showcase the breadth of projects and activities that football clubs deliver for the betterment of local people up and down the country.
During the Week of Action, WWSET were joined at four of our projects by Wycombe Wanderers players who got involved in our activities in various ways.
On Monday 4th April, defender Jack Wakely attended WWSET’s Fit Chairboys session, a free healthy lifestyle and physical activity project that encourages and supports participants to make positive changes and choices to lose weight, eat healthier, and reduce sedentary behaviours. Whilst there, Jack spoke to all the participants about his fitness regime, plus the physical and mental benefits that can be achieved via exercise and a good diet.
On Tuesday 5th April, Adam Leathers and Tj De Barr visited Oakridge Primary School to spend some time with the participants of WWSET’s Future Goals project. This provision targets those pupils who are currently disengaged in school and works with them to improve levels of learning in both an academic and personal sense. Adam & Tjay spent time chatting with the young people about the personal skills and characteristics such as confidence, resilience and teamwork which are crucial to succeed in both football and life-in-general.
On Wednesday 5th April WWSET were delighted to be joined by Joe Jacobson at our monthly All Quarters Learning & Consolation meeting delivered in partnership with both Wycombe Wanderers FC and Wycombe Wanderers Trust. The fan engagement project involves working with four traditionally under-represented groups (minority ethnicities/faiths, disability, LGBTQ+, females) in order to hear their thoughts and feedback on the matchday experience at Adams Park, and how improvements can be made to increase levels of equality, diversity & inclusion.
Finally, on Thursday 6th April pupils at Disraeli Primary School were delighted to be joined by Josh Scowen and Jordan Obita as part of WWSET’s delivery of the Premier League Primary Stars project. The aim of this project is to use the appeal of the Premier League and football in general to engage pupils in lessons and workshops that improve literacy and numeracy skills as well as personal skills. It also sees WWSET’s professional coaches and physical activity deliverers work with primary school teachers to upskill them and improve their ability to deliver effective PE lessons to their pupils.
Following the success of the EFL Week of Action campaign, Head of WWSET Paul Foley had this to say:
“I’d like to place on record our thanks to Wycombe Wanderers, and in particular the players who gave up their time to visit our sessions, for the support they have given us this week. WWSET work hard on behalf of Wycombe Wanderers to ensure that the football club is a force for good within the local community and having players present at our projects adds real excitement and value to the experience of those people we engage.”
Wycombe Wanderers Club Secretary Tom Holder, who was instrumental in supporting the Week of Action added:
“It was fantastic to see so many of our players donating their time to support the local community throughout the week. The whole squad is made up of guys who recognise the opportunity they have as professional footballers to be role models and positive influencers and we’re all proud that they got involved in the EFL Week of Action.”
About EFL: The EFL (English Football League) is the world’s original league football competition. It is the largest single body of professional clubs in European football and is responsible for administering and regulating the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and Papa Johns Trophy, as well as reserve and youth football. The EFL, EFL Trust and our member clubs are at the heart of communities across the country, providing shared experiences for all and using the power of sport to improve lives.
