Huddersfield Town First Team players Ben Wiles and Tom Edwards visit Huddersfield Town Foundation
- Town’s Foundation’s Premier League Inspires Challenge
- Castle Hall will go on to represent Town with a mental health project
- Ben Wiles and Tom Edwards met participants.
Town players Ben Wiles and Tom Edwards visited the Huddersfield Town Foundation's Premier League Inspires Challenge to present an award to Castle Hall Academy, whose idea was chosen as the winner by a panel.
The Club’s Official Charity rolls out the programme across several local secondary schools through funding from the Premier League and Premier League Charitable Fund's partners, who also support youth social action through the annual Premier League Inspires Challenge.
The Challenge helps young people to learn about some of the challenges facing their football club and community, exploring ways to overcome these issues, and for the 2023/24 season, clubs will be looking at mental health as part of the Premier League's Inside Matters campaign.
On Thursday 25 January, Town’s Foundation welcomed Castle Hall, Salendine Nook, and Whitcliffe Mount to the John Smith’s Stadium for a great event.
To get in the mood for the day, the attendees took part in a quiz about Huddersfield Town and the career of one of the panellists and Town legend, Andy Booth!
After that, each school presented their project to the other schools and the panel, with each idea promoting how their school can increase the awareness of students’ mental health.
Students were then shown around the John Smith’s Stadium by Boothy before they headed back to the Big Red Suite to hear careers talks from the Club’s Marketing and Communications Director David Threlfall-Sykes and Head of Retail Luke Cowan, who both gave the students some brilliant advice and guidance around their futures.
The panel then decided on the winners of the first part of the PL Inspires Challenge, with the winners of Castle Hall being presented with their awards and certificates by Town First Team players Wiles and Edwards. The Town pair spoke openly and bravely about their mental health in an empowering talk with the students.
Castle Hall will now represent Town and compete against the other Club Charitable Organisations that are funded by the PLCF on Thursday 25 April at Emirates Stadium to be crowned the 2024 winner of the PL Inspires Challenge.
The Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer Siobhan Atkinson commented:
“I am delighted to see that the Premier League Inspires Challenge was a great success, given its important subject matter of mental health awareness.
“The Premier League Inspires programme is an important part of our educational delivery, with our staff working brilliantly to support young people to improve their well-being and help to develop their character and life-skills.
“A huge thank you goes out to our special guests Tom, Ben, David, and Luke, who all helped to inspire the young people in the room to help them realise their potential.”
If you would like to know more about the Foundation’s Premier League Inspires Challenge programme, please email help@htafcfoundation.com with an enquiry.
