From the OS
It's official! The Addicks have the best performing community trust in the entire country.
The value of the multi-award-winning Charlton Community Trust to the football club was underlined last week when figures were released showing that the Addicks' trust was outperforming even those connected with Premier League clubs.
Annual turnover figures put Charlton top of the pile on £2.739m, ahead of second-placed Blackburn Rovers on £2.6m.
Sunderland (£2.227m) were in third place, followed by Leyton Orient (£2.025m) and Manchester United (£1.851m).
The Addicks have the best performing community trust in the entire country
Trust chairman Roger Godsiff MP said: "It is truly incredible that the Charlton trust has grown to become the biggest football-related charity in the United Kingdom, having been set up only six years ago.
"Most of the revenue the trust receives is restricted to specific projects, and it is remarkable that of the turnover figure of £2.739m, we spent £2.644m on programmes which directly benefit young people in Greenwich, Bexley and across the South East region.
"These are all areas from which the club draws its support. The trust now engages with some 7,500 young people every week, and that is an astonishing statistic."
Paying tribute to the trust's staff, Godsiff added: "This success is due to the incredible hard work of our staff at all levels, and the support we receive from the 200 agencies with which we work.
"We are extremely proud of the progressive reputation we have rightly earned for our community programmes throughout the UK and overseas.
"The impending cuts in public expenditure offer the trust the opportunity to grow still further and we intend to grasp that opportunity and further enhance our work and influence in local communities."
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Good news but before anyone says it that money is separate money from the Football Club's budget and raised from grants and other funding streams for specific community projects so no it can't be spent on players. Two separate organisations.
For me it's not the total value, although that is very impressive, but the level of impact. 7,500 people a week!
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Well done CAFC
I'd read a bit more about the Community Trust during the Upbeats fundraising so I've copied this thumbnail sketch of its work from the website. It really does bring home how amazingly well the Trust has done.
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The community programme at Charlton Athletic Football Club was established in 1992 and became The Charlton Athletic Community Trust in 2003. Affectionately known as CACT, it is famed for its work in both its local communities as well as in South Africa and has scooped numerous prestigious industry awards over recent years.
The community initiative began when the football club returned to The Valley in 1992. It started with just one member of staff, a bag of footballs and a telephone and has now grown into an organisation that employs 37 full time staff and 139 casual coaches and engages with approximately 7,500 young people on a weekly basis. With over 55 separate strands delivered by the community trust each year, it is impossible to succinctly summarise its achievements, but here are 10 top ‘CACT FACTS’ just for starters:
1.CACT’s main areas of work are:
◦Social Inclusion
◦Education and Health
◦Pathways to Employment Prison Programme
◦Sports Development
◦Disability and Mental Health
◦Women and Girl’s Development
2.CACT delivers programmes across Bexley, Greenwich and Kent as well as in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban which all include some of the poorest townships in South Africa
3.CACT works with approximately 7,500 young people per week
4.CACT engages with 11,000 young people per month through its Social Inclusion Programmes
5.CACT worked with over 340,000 young people during 2008
6.CACT employs 37 full time members of staff and 139 casual coaches
7.CACT works in partnership with over 200 agencies including Local Authorities and Councils, the Police, Primary Care Trusts, the Prison Service and Government departments
8.CACT delivers over 55 strands of activity ranging from toddler soccer, estates league football and smoking cessation to working with senior citizens
9.The Charlton Challenge is delivered in 12 leisure centres and coaches 1,255 children per week with the Toddler Soccer Programme coaching 480 toddlers per week
10.CACT employs two ex-Charlton Athletic footballers in Bob Bolder, Thanet Community Officer and Paul Mortimer, Technical Director, Women and Girls
I wonder if it translates to "buns on seats", or do all the people that the trust helps still support Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea?!
I wonder if it translates to "buns on seats", or do all the people that the trust helps still support Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea?![/quote]
I don't think it does and I don't think that's the main reason why CAFC are so involved.
For me it's as equally staggering that bigger clubs are unwilling to support their local communities in this way. It shows how selfish some of them really are, they run their clubs as companies to fleece their 'customers' as much as possible and they don't view that they have a role in the wider community to support ventures similar to those listed above. Their players are as poor ambassadors for the game as the clubs are.
CAFC should be rightfully applauded.
Agreed. I think it's an 'everyone'sa winner situation' Community benefit and i'm sure it does put bums on seats. It's a far cry from the Glikstein era when we failed to capitalise on anything and the club lurched on despite itself. We are now so switched on - just need a good team and some real ale now and everthing will be rosy again.
That's a lot of money to spend on programmes, how much are they these days ? :-)
Have just read a certain Mr NG's comments on 'Your Views' part of the official website. This man's cynicism shows no bounds.
Shame on bigger clubs considering the amount of money that flows through football.
So nice to read a positive story about us these days too!
They smashed our (Beaverwood) reserve team 9 -0 a couple of years back and it should have been more. It was (old)men against boys - they were an average age of about 18 and took the piss.
They do run the womens team so in theory it could be used to buy players for that! ;-)
Have just read a certain Mr NG's comments on 'Your Views' part of the official website. This man's cynicism shows no bounds.[/quote]
Yeah, that guy could depress Happy, the happiest clown in the world. What a tosser.
Now in its fourth season, and following three promotion campaigns, two Kent Cup triumphs and a play-off victory, the trust football club sees expansion as a priority.
The first team plays in the Senior Division of the Kent County League.
Team manager Darren Phillips explained: "What the club needs is to lay solid foundations which give an opportunity to more youngsters from the local community and trust programmes.
"At present, the club has 35 players registered but competition for places is high with just one team. So we've decided to start a reserve team with the intention of giving everyone time on the pitch."
Players from the age of 15 are encouraged to register their interest. This offers the opportunity of representing the community trust representative teams at U16 and U18 level.
Over the past three seasons, 16 players have progressed from representative teams directly into the senior community team, with Royce Greenidge and Richard Sho-Silva winning young player of the year accolades in 2008 and 2010.
New players, coaches, volunteers and sponsors are needed to ensure the club can run two teams. The club is also monitoring proposals for the introduction of a Kent League Step 6.
For further information on the trust senior football club, email darren.phillips@thefa.com or email matt.horne@cact.org.uk for details on the community trust representative teams at U16 and U18 level.
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