Notts County FC Football in the Community has partnered with Next Door Dance to provide a range of sports activities and dance workshops, creating a duo that will engage a range of teenagers from the local area, both male and female...
The new project called “Moving Meadows” is free for participants and takes place at Portland Centre between 4:30pm and 6pm.
The Meadows Partnership Trust have awarded FITC an Area Based Grant of just over £5,000 per year to start a diversionary multi-sports and dance project for teenagers in the Meadows. In addition to this funding, FITC have secured additional funding for the project of £2,500 for year one, courtesy of a generous donation from Neil and Ian Footitt on behalf of the Moore Group. Neil and Ian grew up in the Meadows and have donated the funding to support local young people into positive activities in the evenings.
FITC, a Nottingham-based sports charity has a strong track record in providing diversionary projects to disengaged young people, using the status of the world’s oldest football league club, Notts County FC, to attract these “hard to reach” individuals.
Through its management of Portland Centre and close connections with the Meadows community, FITC aims to make local people more active. As such, FITC is encouraging more Meadows residents to take part in their projects, as well as offering memberships to Portland Centre.
NDD are a group of local female dancers who are best known for their dance show, The Beautiful Game, which combines football with dance and draws audiences from both. NDD will offer a wide range of dance styles that will engage and inspire teenagers attending “Moving Meadows”, even giving young dancers the opportunity to choreograph their own routines.
“Moving Meadows” will work with teenagers aged between 14 and 19. Sessions will provide different sports activities every week alongside regular dance workshops to offer positive opportunities and new, interesting activities to local young people in an accessible venue.
FITC’s Activity Support Manager, James Lake, who manages “Moving Meadows” said: “FITC has made a commitment to our local community. We currently run a wide range of diversionary projects around Nottingham and want to continue to engage these ‘hard to reach’ teenagers by providing a number of affordable and accessible opportunities. Some of our staff are from the Meadows and they are keen to provide local young people with opportunities to learn valuable life-skills such as teamwork and leadership, as well as offering something creative with dance workshops.”
Sharon Mills from the Meadows Partnership Trust added: “We are delighted to be working with Notts County FC FITC to provide local young people with the chance to participate in such a wide range of sports and dance activities. Moving Meadows will offer local teenagers the opportunity to become more active and try new activities they might not have tried before.”
For more information: www.nottscountyfitc.org.uk
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