DISABILITY

  
 

Fairfield Get Cash Boost
 
FOOTBALLERS AT ONE OF YORKSHIRE'S LEADING SPECIAL SCHOOLS, the Fairfield School in Heckmondwike are celebrating a £10,000 grant from the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity.
 
 
The cash bonanza has given the school much needed funding to set up a football club for students with severe and profound learning needs.  Eventually the school has plans to help set up and play in a league for pupils with similar needs.
 
Former Manchester United footballer and England cricketer Arnie Sidebottom was on hand to formerly launch the scheme and joined in with the players in their lunchtime football session organised by local coaches.
 
Through close partnership working with the Football Development Officers at West Riding County FA, Fairfield received their Football Foundation grant and also became an FA Charter Standard Special School.  Karen Winton, School Sports Coordinator at Fairfield School, has been the driving force behind the schools recent success and said:  “The grant has helped us provide the students with new opportunities to play football.  We hope eventually the players will actually be able to compete in a league, which would be a fantastic boost to everybody’s self esteem and overall confidence.”  
 
The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the Premier League, the Football Association, Sport England and the Government, the Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity, having already funded 1,300 projects worth over £300 million.
 
Peter Lee, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation welcomed this latest funding boost in West Yorkshire:
“We warmly congratulate the club for their hard work and dedication in securing this award. Grass roots football is the lifeblood of the game in this country which is why it is vital that projects such as this now have the benefit of Foundation cash.”