Rochdale AFC Community Trust have pledged to continue on their mission “to make Rochdale one of the best places to live, work and play”despite the club playing in the National League next season.
The clubs official charity has grown exponentially of late, trebling turnover and growing to employ more than 20 staff across a range of projects and programmes- a growth that shows no sign of slowing up.
The charity, which has operated for over 30 years in the town, raises all of its own funds from grants, donations and from its activities and, although fully supported by the club with player appearances, match tickets and the like, is governed by a separate board of trustees.
A busy summer is in store, with various community tournaments and matches taking place at the Crown Oil Arena.
Rochdale AFC Ladies are hosting tournaments, Rochdale AFC Military Veterans host a prominent national charity whilst Rochdale AFC Ability Counts and Walking Football run activities for their members.
BASA vs GMP will open our Inspiring Communities Tournament, which will see hundreds of children from diverse communities across Rochdale take to the field.
September will see an expanded Sports College programme run at Heywood Sports Village, providing more opportunities for those aged 16-18 to combine football with Further Education and we also have a Foundation Degree programme.
For adults, we have just been commissioned to expand our Training Ground employability programme to those who have been part of the criminal justice system, as well as run a new maths based adult education programme for Rochdale Council.
We will potentially see some funding lost due to relegation, namely a reduction in Premier League Kicks and Premier League Primary Stars funding, as well as our core EFL Trust grant.
But we are hopeful that strong local partnerships will enable us to continue our current level of delivery.
Exciting facility plans are in place, with a Football Foundation bid in excess of £1m in place for 5 small sided 3G facilities in every township in the Borough as well as delivery of a joint training ground/community football hub as part of the South Heywood master plan with Russell Homes.
Although relegation hits us all hard, Rochdale AFC Community Trust are determined to continue to serve our community.
Last year, the impact of the clubs community work was valued at £5,671,112.86 by the EFL/EFL Trust.
We were crowned Community Initiative of the season at the North West Football Awards for our food pantry and community welfare work and are up for a national award later this month at the Football Business Awards.
The trustees, who met recently, reaffirmed the commitment of the charity to support the club in whatever way it can.
The charity recently invested in a significant shareholding in the club, has started to work closely with the academy and have also invited the Dale Supporters Trust to take a position on its board of trustees.
With these foundations in place, the charity is hopeful it can step up our support and positively impact all areas of the clubs operations going forward.
Rochdale AFC is a true community club – the town needs us off the pitch as much as it does on the pitch and Rochdale AFC Community Trust will continue to serve those who need us whilst we battle for promotion from the National League next season.