Olympic gold medallist supports Town’s charity
The Huddersfield Town Foundation is delighted to announce that Huddersfield’s multiple Olympic medallist Ed Clancy has become a trustee of the charity.
The 27 year-old – a special guest at Huddersfield Town’s game against Burnley earlier this season after his remarkable gold medal at this summer’s 2012 London Olympics – will now take a pivotal role in the Foundation, which aims to help improve the quality of life for young people across Huddersfield and the West Yorkshire region.
"Huddersfield is an area close to my heart and I'm delighted to be a part of a charity that aims to make a tangible difference in our community to the people that need it most,” Ed explained.
"Obviously I'm involved in sport and the London 2012 Olympics have really shown everyone what a positive influence sport can have on the country. Huddersfield Town is a big influence in our community and hopefully we can harness the power of that brand to make a big difference in what is a very diverse community.
"I understand the 'Early Kick-Off' project is just around the corner and it's amazing to think that we will initially provide 250 local youngsters with a free breakfast - what a great way to start the day!"
A registered charity, the Foundation is the vision of Huddersfield Town Chairman, Dean Hoyle and aims to use the power of Huddersfield Town and football as a way to engage with youngsters across the region to improve the lives of the young people that need it the most.
Huddersfield Town Foundation Trustee Dean Hoyle explained his reasons behind setting up the Foundation:
“The football club has always tried to engage with its local area through initiatives such as its Football in the Community department, but the Foundation is something entirely different.
“The Club took around 1,000 local kids to Wembley last season for our Play-Off Final and the needs of some of the children in the area, combined with the generosity of the people and businesses that donated £45,000 to the cause, really opened my eyes to just what can be achieved by working together with the football club.
“For me, it is about the need to do the right thing and we’re going to use the expertise of the people at Huddersfield Town, along with the skills of the other businesses that come on board and support us, to improve the lives of thousands of local children in our area.”
The first official project of the Foundation, the ‘Early Kick-Off’ Breakfast Club, is set to launch next week. The Foundation has joined forces with several organisations such as Total Foodservice, Kirklees College, Kirklees Council, Caterer’s Choice, Stafflex and Kids Premiership to supply schools in the football club’s heartland with a free breakfast and NVQ level food hygiene training support.
‘Early Kick-Off’ aims to provide thousands of free breakfasts so that an initial five schools can feed their pupils every morning – completely free of charge. This equates to over 50,000 free breakfasts for local youngsters in our region – and that number will grow if the Foundation receives further donations.
If you want to make a donation to the Foundation please click HERE or visit www.htafcfoundation.com
