A leading Sheffield Member of Parliament has shown his support to Sheffield Wednesday’s Community Programme after he made a special visit to the club.
Clive Betts, MP for the South East of Sheffield, visited the Sheffield Wednesday Community Programme, the club’s charity arm, to show his backing to the work the organisation does for young people in Sheffield.
The programme provides an extensive service to provide sport inclusion and engagement for the communities surrounding South Yorkshire.
Focusing on four main objectives, social inclusion, participation, education and health and wellbeing, the club’s community programme provides specialist coaches and education leaders to support young people throughout South Yorkshire schools and venues at the football club.
Clive said: “The programme to me is an eye opener as to most people Sheffield Wednesday is just about football but it’s great to see the range of things the club are doing on the education front.
“The programme takes on young people who are interested in all areas of sport with the potential to progress on to studying for a degree or move onto employment. It’s great to see the club offering a range of opportunities for young people to get involved in the community.”
He added: “It’s important to see the football club using the interest they already generate to enthuse young people to get into education and to get involved in community activities.”
Ricky Hunt, Curriculum Manager for the community programme, said: “The extensive programme has a wide spectrum of young people coming through that have been re-engaged with education or employment. Everyone who is graduating from our community programme this year is either going on to further education or onto future employment which is great for the ongoing project.
“It’s fantastic to have support from Clive and everyone at the programme are really grateful that he’s been able to come and visit and find out a bit more about what we do.”