Feature Image left to right: Eilidh Barbour, Dion Dublin, Siobhan Mccafferty, Paul Davies, Iffy Onuora, Anthony Barnett
The winners of the Armstrong Projects Northwest Football Awards 2023 were revealed during a star-studded ceremony attended by over 500 guests, hosted by Eilidh Barbour and Dion Dublin at Emirates Old Trafford, in Manchester this month.
The event celebrated and honoured the football stars of the 2022/23 season. Creative Football are delighted to be awarded the non-league Kick It Out Promoting Inclusion Award which acknowledges the crucial role football clubs carry out in the community.
Paul Davies, one of the Directors of Creative Football, said:
To win this award means a lot to us, but we don’t do it for the recognition. This award is for our service users that come every single week and participate in our projects, believe in what we are doing and we believe in what we are doing. We do things differently and we are getting a lot of success with people joining in, changing their lives and they are helping us at the same time. We are very proud of this award and it tells us that we are doing something right which is fantastic.
Creative Football, based at Witton Park in Blackburn, is a not-for-profit organisation which encompasses Blokes United, Girls United and the Social Inclusion Football League (SIFL) and Academy.
The team of four staff work with over 70 volunteers to welcome adults of all ages and abilities, including those with disabilities to have an informal kick-about. Creative Football has adapted their service, delivering 12 sessions across four areas and supporting over 350 participants on a weekly basis with an additional 150 getting involved in social inclusion leagues held twice a month.
This year, Creative Football launched their new Football to Fitness Walking Football sessions which gained national coverage for its work supporting people with Parkinson’s disease and other long term health conditions through the beautiful game.
Participants get more than just football when they come to a session, working together with Kemple View, a service supporting males struggling with mental illness, has helped embed physical activity into mental health recovery. In addition, this has led to delivery of free health checks for service users alongside their sessions.
Together an Active Future, through Sport England, have supported Creative Football as they have grown into a newly formed Community Interest Company, forming partnerships with Blackburn College, Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust and Lancashire Football Association. It’s through these partnerships that Creative Football has been able to support more people through employment, providing additional sessions and creating more opportunities to inspire, heal and develop their service users.
If you are interested in supporting Creative Football as a sponsor, take a look at their sponsorship packages for more information.
If you know someone who could benefit from attending Creative Football sessions, find out more by visiting www.creativefootball.co.uk, emailing paul.hardman@creativefootball.co.uk, or hello@creativefootball.co.uk), messaging via social media or calling on 01254 661501.