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Half Term Holiday Courses 2010

Brentford FCCST are pleased to announce dates for our forthcoming holiday courses during February half term. A multi-sports camp will be running at St Gregory’s Primary School in Ealing and a football camp will be running at Teddington Sports Centre. Nintendo Wii interactive zones will also be available at both venues should the weather turn bad. Courses are open to boys and girls aged 5-12 years. Prices are £15 per day with discounts available for 3-day and family bookings. To download the booking form please click here or call 0845 262 9495 for more details.

Brentford FCCST Community Tickets Offer 09/10
We are delighted to announce our new Community Group Tickets offer for season 09/10.

Our Community Tickets offer has proved very successful in previous seasons, providing the opportunity for local community groups including schools, scout groups, football teams and other community partners to visit Griffin Park and enjoy a day out watching a live professional football match.

As part of the ticket offer, groups are encouraged to take up the 50/50 scheme, which gives you the chance to raise money for your organisation.

All details of the Community Tickets Offer can be found in our new Community Brochure 09 , which can be downloaded here.

If you have any further questions or are interested in participating in any of this seasons offers then please contact Amy Crook to discuss available options.
We look forward to seeing you at Griffin Park soon.
acrook@brentfordfccst.com

Princes Trust Young People Given a Taste of Griffin Park.
On Thursday 24^th September a group of young people on a Prince’s Trust programme were given the opportunity to have a behind the scenes tour of Griffin Park – home of Brentford Football Club. The 16-25 year olds, the majority unemployed, had earlier that week commenced The Prince’s Trust’s Team programme, designed to improve the skills, qualifications and confidence of young people struggling with their lives, to help them get back into education, employment or further training. Brentford Football Club is one of more than 60 professional football clubs in the UK, including all of the Premier League clubs, working with The Prince’s Trust to support young people in the local community in partnership with the Brentford FC Community Trust. The youth charity’s long term partnership with the Premier League, PFA and the Football Foundation has helped more than 12,000 young people transform their lives since 1997. Over the next 12 weeks the young people will have taken part in a series of activities to help increase their employability including taking part in a week long residential undertaking teambuilding activities, projects to benefit their local community, 3 weeks work experience as well CV writing and interview preparation workshops.

Princes Trust gets healthy with the TRUST at Griffin Park.

The Princes Trust came to Griffin Park last week to have a healthy lifestyle workshop with Brentford FCCST’s Martyn Hall. The Day included the young people from Mortlake Princes Trust, where they had a workshop on healthy lifestyles, a tour of Griffin Park, a coaching session and prepared a healthy lunch, including showing of their smoothie making skills.

Brentford FCCST and The New Football Pools launch Disabilities Football Initiative

The New Football Pools will present Brentford FC Community Sports Trust with a cheque for £60,000 at the Bees home game against Swindon Town on Saturday 3^rd October. This exciting news means that this will allow The Trust to continue and enhance its disability sports provision across the 3 boroughs (Ealing, Hounslow and Richmond) it works in. This 3 year initiative will see Brentford FC CST deliver ‘Every Player Counts’ which is a leading project of The Football League Trust. The PAN-Disability scheme will develop multi-sports opportunities for people with a range of disabilities and support needs. With this announcement Pete Shears, Disabilities Programme Manager at BFCCST commented, “As a major source of funding, The Every Player Counts Scheme allows us to continue to develop, improve and extend our disabilities provision over the next 3 years.” Jon Sheehy, The New Football Pools Marketing Director said, “We are fortunate to be in the unique position of supporting the nation’s biggest sport. Having invested £1.1 billion into football and other good causes we are delighted to build on this legacy and support Brentford FC CST in this fantastic new initiative – Every Player Counts.” The cheque will be presented to The Trust on the pitch at half time by Howard Israel of The New Football Pools. For further information about BFCCST Disabilities Programme please contact: Peter Shears at pshears@brentfordfccst.com or 020 8326 7047

Leon Legge Interview

With the announcement that Brentford FC CST has secured £60,000 funding for the next 3 years to support, extend and improve its sports provision for people with disabilities and support needs, you may be interested to know that current Brentford FC first teamer worked as a Care Support Worker while he was playing non league football for Ryman Premier outfit Tonbridge Angels.

Luis Melville of Brentford FC CST and Westside Radio 89.6FM caught up with Leon at the training ground to talk about his work as a Care Support Worker.

Luis Melville: You’re a footballer with a difference. Prior to signing with Brentford your daytime job was as a Care Support Worker. How did you actually get involved in that type of work?

Leon Legge: Originally, I was at college doing Sports Science and in one of our sessions we delivered a sports programme to a group of adults who needed extra care and support. When I left college I changed my mind in what I wanted to do and decided that a career as a Care Support Worker was what I wanted to pursue as I found it extremely rewarding.

LM: What type of training were you required to undertake to give you the tools to undertake such a career?

LL: I took various courses and after about 12 months got promoted as I was doing really well and was promoted to a more senior position and was allowed to supervise shifts. I was in charge of the house where the ‘in care’ residents lived. There were about 10 residents who were under our care. We organised a variety of activities including a number of trips. I actually took 2 residents to a Brentford game when we played Havant & Waterlooville in The FA Cup. We tried to promote their independence and encourage them to do things for themselves but offering the correct level of support to achieve that aim. One of our aims was to get them into work.

LM: What type of work were you able to get them into?

LL: We tried to get them into jobs such as retail or encourage them to take courses. We had one resident who completed a course at Brighton University and qualified as a chef.

LM: Do you still keep in touch with some of the people that you cared for?

LL: Yes I do. Especially as they are after tickets (Laughs)!!!

LM: What was the most rewarding part of that job?

LL: Just knowing that you were helping disadvantaged people get back up on their feet was a great feeling. Also seeing people attain qualifications through their own hard work was very rewarding. I think in the end some of them were better qualified than I was!

LM: Then came the big move when Brentford came in for you. How big a wrench was that for you when you had to leave as it was obviously a job that you enjoyed and was good at and cared about?

LL: It was a hard decision. When I told the residents that I was leaving they weren’t too happy because I had a very strong bond with most of them.

LM: What’s been the hardest adjustment you have had to make since turning professional?

LL: I suppose going from training twice a week to 4 or 5 days a week which I had never done at Tonbridge. Ensuring my fitness levels were sufficiently high enough to be ready to play professional football would have to be another.

END

October Half Term Holiday Courses
We are delighted to announce our October programme of Football and Multi-Sports Camps for boys and girls aged 5-12 years. Camps will be taking place at St Gregory's Primary School in Ealing, Elthorne Sports Centre in Ealing and Chase Bridge Primary School in Twickenham. Courses cost £12.50 per day and run from 10am-3pm. We are also offering the Wembley Stadium day trip on Friday 30th October, 10am - 3pm. Cost for the day trip is £30 per child. Please note discounts are available on all week long holiday course bookings and for families with 2 or more participants. Please click here to downlood booking form or call the Trust on 0845 262 9495 for more details.
New Saturday Clubs
Brentford FCCST are delighted to announce our new programme of Saturday clubs starting September 2009.
We now have venues at Elthorne Sports Centre, Heston Sports Centre, Teddington Sports Centre, Whitton Spoorts Centre, and Shene Sports Centre. We also have a number of disabilities sessions running in Hounslow, Ealing and Richmond. For more information on Saturday Courses please use the interactive map and select venue closest to you. Alternativley contact the Trust on 0845 262 9945.

Usain Bolt give masterclass to Hounslow youngsters!!

The biggest and fastest name in World Athletics, Usain Bolt put on a sprinting master class for students from The Green School and participants of The Extreme Ability Project with BFC Community Sports Trust Staff in attendance.

Taking place in West London, the fastest man on the planet preparing for The Golden Meeting at Crystal Palace this Friday and Saturday was able to pass on some of the tips that saw him lower the World Record to a staggering 9.69 seconds for the 100 metres at the Beijing Olympics last year.

Usain was keen to get across the importance of good starts and reacting quickly.

The afternoon was rounded off with some questions from the pupils for the triple Olympic Champion and he was only to happy to pose for photo’s and autographs afterwards.

Bees Girls Win Cup Final

Brentford Girls (U-14) B team played their Middlesex League Cup Final against Forest United on Sunday 26th April winning the game 4-3. Three of the goals came from Lashan Millwood and Hannah Drenhaus-Carter got the other. Lashan's 1st goal came just before half time after a great through ball from Rhena Eames for Lashan to blast into the bottom left hand corner. Half time score was 1-1.

Brentford's 2nd goal came 2 minutes into the 2nd half after some good 1-2 passing between Leah and Lashan from kick off which resulted in Lashan's shot ending up in the bottom left hand corner again. Hannah got the 3rd goal from the edge of the box leaving the keeper standing and watching the ball go past her. Our last goal came from Lashan who received an excellent pass from Ellie Birbeck in defence for her to run onto, left the defender she was marking with her pace and calmly slotted the ball in the bottom right hand corner.

Player of the match went to Ellie Birbeck.

Brentford FC: League 2 Champions 2009

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Brentford FC on there success in being crowned League 2 Champions for 2009. In what has been a truly memorable season, Andy Scott and the team have been outstanding throughout. Having led the league for the best part of the season, Andy and the team have proved themselves worthy champions. Credit should also go to all the staff at Brentford FC who work tirelessly to ensure both the team and the fans have the best support possible.

Saturdays result rounds of a fantastic season in the history of the Bees, with our recent success in being named Community Club of the Year 2009, the Trust achieving Football League Silver Status and winning the Pro-Active Best Partnership Award 2009.

So here is looking forward to 2009/10, for what is hoped will be another great season for Brentford FC.

Come on you Bees!

Brentford FC CST Achieve FA League Silver Accreditation

Following on from our success at the Football League Awards, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust has this week been named as one of 31 recipients of the Football League Trust’s Sliver Status. The Award is recognition for all the work we do in the Community.

Each club will receive £48k to invest into Community activities as part of the Trust’s £1.72m pledge to Community schemes across the country.

In the Coca-Cola Championship, the Silver award winners are Derby County, Ipswich Town, Norwich City, Watford, Barnsley, Charlton Athletic, Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In Coca-Cola League 1, awards have gone to Brighton & Hove Albion, Crewe Alexandra, Huddersfield Town, Milton Keynes Dons, Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town, Tranmere Rovers, Colchester United, Leyton Orient, Millwall, Northampton Town, Scunthorpe United and Southend United.

In Coca-Cola League 2, awards went to Brentford, Notts County, Rochdale, Bradford City, Grimsby Town, Morecambe and Rotherham United.

Football League Trust General Manager Dave Edmundson said: “I would like to heartily congratulate all the clubs who have achieved their Silver award. This is a wonderful indication of the new levels of impact and engagement that schemes are bringing to the communities they serve.

“More importantly, this demonstrates the impressive range of projects and initiatives delivered by League clubs in all four themes, and the partnerships being established in both the public and private sectors.”

Edmundson added: “Overall standards are high, and there is no doubt that the Trust, along with the support of all the clubs, intend to maintain this rising trend of improvement.”

Luke Skelhorn, Brentford FCCST General Manager said “The Football League Trust Silver accreditation provides Brentford FC Community Sports Trust with a kite mark for the quality of our programme and the activities that we deliver. With only a limited number of Football League clubs in the country achieving silver and our recent success in winning the League 2 Community Club of the Year, the Trust continues to be one o f the leading community organisations in the country.”

To achieve Silver status, the clubs had to fulfil a range of criteria set out by the Trust. These include:

• An approved level of governance, including representation of at least one senior club executive and at least two strategically-chosen external trustees on the scheme’s board

• At least one themed officer working on projects relating to one of The Football League Trust’s four core themes (social inclusion/ community cohesion, health, education and sports participation)

• A minimum of a three-year business plan showing sustainable programmes being delivered across all four of The Football League Trust’s core themes.

• Evidence of how funding provided by The Football League Trust is being utilized and how it will be used to attract additional funding into the schemes

• Evidence of how schemes are linked into local decision making groups, for example Local Strategic Partnerships

• Evidence on how the schemes works with the Football Club on issues relating to youth development

• A strong player appearance policy

• Charitable status in place

All clubs must also have met The Football League Trust Minimum Charter standard.

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust

‘A Winning Partnership’

Sunday March 29^th saw Brentford FC named Football League Community Club of the Year (League 2) for the second time in 4 years!

The Football League Awards took place at The Grosvenor Hotel on Sunday night and were attended by representatives from all Football League Clubs.

Brentford FCCST were nominated in the Community Club of the Year category (League 2) and faced strong competition from other League 2 clubs Wycombe Wanderers, Rochdale, Bradford City and Rotherham United.

What really impressed the judges was the scale of the Trusts involvement within its Community, which sees us working in 100 schools and 40 housing estates. Also, the Trusts strategy of participation through partnership sees them working with over 30 partners in the public, private and voluntary sector. In 2008 the Trust delivered over 5000 sessions across15 different sports. Alongside the Trust’s wide range of activities including initiatives such as social inclusion project ‘Kickz’, a multi-faceted education programme delivered through The Griffin Park Learning Zone, health awareness campaign ‘Bee Healthy’, and the new Brentford Boating Arch, the key achievement in 2008 has been the growth of the disability programme which has seen the Trust secure new funding and take on a full-time Disability Officer. With more projects, more sessions and more participants, the Community Sports Trust now offers a whole new level of disability activity.

The judging panel was made up of members from within the Football Community including John Motson and Steve Claridge.

Commenting on the Award, Trust Chief Executive Lee Doyle said “We provide 5,000 coaching sessions in 15 different sports every year, and this is great recognition in our 20th year as football in the community and 5th as a Trust. There is a real connection with the community in Brentford and when we move to the new stadium, we hope to create a hub for the community where not only can a football club operate, but we can offer links to health and education."

He added: "There is a lot of power in the football league in terms of reaching out to communities. Both collectively and through individual clubs we have to look at the opportunity we have to positively affect peoples' lives. We are giving people across the board opportunities that they just would not have had before."

The Trust also received another award last week, being named Partner of the Year (West London) at the Pro-Active Awards on Friday evening. Coupled with both Awards, last week also saw the Launch of the Trusts new Sponsorship deal with West London Audi which saw Trust coaching staff take delivery of a new fleet of Audis.

West London Audi Head of Business Ray Campbell said, “As part of the Sytner Group, we are keen to actively participate in local community projects and charities wherever possible. Audi are a dynamic brand and therefore feel our association with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust, who are leaders in delivering sports coaching, will be an excellent partnership. My team and I are really looking forward to working with Lee and the BFCCST coaches in the coming years I and hope our local residents will enjoy the benefits of our affiliation”

2009 is proving to be an extremely successful year to date; with new initiatives and programmes the Trust aims to offer more activities and events than ever before. If you would like more information on the Trust please visit our website at www.brentfordfccst.com or call 0845 262 9495.

ENDS

Audi West London & Brentford FCCST: DRIVING COMMUNITY SPORT

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust have teamed up with West London Audi to become the Trust’s motoring partner.

Since converting to a Sports Trust three years ago the organisation has gone from strength to strength. Recent statistics indicate that the Trust create 140,000 participation opportunities across 15 sports in the last year. Each week the Trust develops sport at over 60 schools and 40 local housing estates. Recent new projects include an Extreme Ability programme offering new participation opportunities for people with disabilities and the creation of a new Boating arch under Kew Bridge.

Brentford & West London Audi dual branded vehicles will take to the streets transporting coaches and equipment to community venues across Ealing, Hounslow and Richmond.

BFCCST Chief Executive Lee Doyle said, “ The fact that we have created a new partnership with a top brand is an indication of how far the Trust has come in 3 years. Our overarching strategy is ‘Participation through Partnership’. Both Ray and I want this partnership to be more than a car sponsorship programme, we are looking at creating joint team building, sports participation and matchday events.”

The Official Launch takes place at Audi West London's showroom on the Great West Road today (25th March) at 12.30pm. More news on the event will follow.

ESP provides multi-skills training for BFC CST staff

On Monday 23rd March, staff from Brentford FCCST attended Green Dragon Primary School were they took part in a multi-skills training programme delivered by Education Special Project Ltd (ESP).

The training was provided in partnership with Alan Watkinson, Partnership Development Manager for Isleworth & Syon School.

ESP’s Lead CPD Trainer Scott Benton and Ex Tranmere Defender Dave Challinor were on hand to deliver the training session. ESP’s Continual Professional Development programme is recognised by a range of national agencies that see it clearly supporting schools in embedding their ideas and designs through clear and effective practical examples.

All modules are appropriate for Primary, Secondary and Special Needs Schools. The Level One Training programme helps staff understand the key ingredients in the delivery of effective multi-skills activities, giving them the skills needed to be able to develop practical ideas using the Multi-skills zones and the relationship between the playground and the development of movement competencies. The modular approach enables Schools and School Sports Partnerships to tailor a training package to meet the specific needs of both coaches and participants, maximising the role of play and physical activity.

Alan Watkinson said, “working with ESP on Playground Markings and the progression of physical literacy is at the core of every child’s access to the curriculum. The system provide opportunities for both sporty and non sporty children to participate and develop. We are now working with ESP and Brentford FCCST to introduce parental engagement workshops that are designed to encourage parental/child engagement and learning”