Town's Foundation awarded £10,000 grant by Sky Bet EFL
- Huddersfield Town Foundation awarded £10,000 grant
- Awarded by Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund
- Helps sustain and deliver walking football sessions
The Huddersfield Town Foundation has been awarded a £10,000 grant from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund to help deliver Women’s Walking Football sessions in Dewsbury, as well as sustaining two existing walking football sessions with previous funding ending.
The Foundation currently engage with over 180 walking football participants but have ambitions to reach more adults across Kirklees by delivering sessions in different locations - encouraging anyone to come and give football a go.
The programme will provide an opportunity for those already engaged, and those that we aim to engage with, to access fun, inclusive physical activity, and will help reduce health inequalities across Kirklees.
Over 60 EFL Club Community Organisations have received a grant in the first phase of funding, which aims to improve the quality of life within communities through the access to, and quality of, football provisions and initiatives.
Huddersfield Town Foundation Chief Executive Officer Siobhan Atkinson said:
“We are delighted to have been awarded the £10,000 grant from the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund.
“We know that Kirklees has a higher rate of premature all-cause mortality under 75 years, as well as a greater prevalence of cardiovascular disease than the national averages.
“This grant will enable the Foundation to deliver walking football in communities where access to free physical activity and social opportunities is important for people to live well, for longer.
“It’s also fantastic to receive funding from a company such as Sky Bet - it demonstrates the high-quality of our work to have brands such as this engaging and backing our delivery.”
Applications covering projects across a range of categories, such as improving local sporting facilities or promoting the physical and social benefits of the game, were considered and rubber-stamped by a panel of industry experts, including Sky Bet ambassador Jeff Stelling last month.
The Building Foundations Fund represents the largest multi-year sponsor-backed fund dedicated solely to community activity, with the process underway to give EFL Community Clubs a chance to bid for grants of up to £100,000 to invest in ongoing programmes or to develop new initiatives.
The EFL and Sky Bet agreed a record extension earlier this year that saw the sports betting brand continue as the League’s title partner until the end of the 2028/29 campaign. The commitment to a community fund was an integral part of the extension agreement.
To find out more about the Sky Bet EFL Building Foundations Fund with other examples of how the fund is being used, CLICK HERE.
