Witney News - Witney United and Sainsbury's Club Together

Witney United and Sainsbury's Club Together

Witney United F.C. has, as part of their community programme, launched a pre-match programme of football training sessions for 8-11 year old boys and girls - made possible thanks to cash from local supermarket Sainsbury's.

The store, in Witan Way has donated £500 to Witney United FC to provide equipment to enable the sessions to be successful.

Andrew Magnay (United's Community Officer) said "This is a excellent example of how a business and a sports club can pool resources to establish benefits for the wider community".

The sessions will be managed by Chris Hurley (the Club's Director of Football Development) and will be assisted by members of the United 1st Team Squad.

Chris commented "the idea is to make the sessions available for boys and girls of varying ability. The emphasis is on providing skills training but they are also meant to be fun".

The pre-match sessions will include cakes and a drink, a tour of the ground to see what goes on behind the scenes before the match and tickets to the game.

The supermarket raised the cash using a new scheme that encourages customers to recycle plastic shopping bags, cutting waste as well as being kind to the environment.

Sainsbury's store manager, Mike Hawker, said; "We play an important role in this community and want to do all that we can to be part of it. Helping local children to grow and achieve their full potential is a terrific investment for their future"

The donation is one of the first to be made as part of Sainsbury's new community grants scheme, funded entirely from the profits on sales of Bags for Life. The bags cost 10p and are replaced free of charge when they eventually wear out. They are then recycled with all the other plastic waste at the store. By purchasing a Bag for Life, customers are contributing to local community projects and helping the environment.

Mike Hawker said; "Sainsbury's is building on its existing support of recycling and community projects by linking our Bags for Life and the funding of local projects. When we heard about the need for new training equipment for the youngsters, we were pleased to nominate them for a community grant."

Sainsbury's Community Grants have been launched in 545 stores and Store Managers are able to make nominations at any time of the year.