Northampton Town Football Club's Charitable Foundation has appointed its official charity partners for the 2009/2010 season.
The charities are;
The Alzheimer's Society
The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
MacMillan Cancer Support
Motor Neurone Disease Association, Northamptonshire branch
Thomas's Fund
Northampton Samaritans
Noahs Ark Play Group, Duston
KidsAid
The newly formed Foundation will bring together the club's extensive charity work and will see the club work with a selected number of charity partners on a season by season basis. The Northampton Town Football Club Charitable Foundation plans to harness local passion to make a major difference to charities in Northampton and beyond.
Being an official partner entitles the charity to the following benefits;
One bucket collection during the season as part of a themed home game in support of charity
Use of the club badge for promotional purposes
Media coverage of charity events in club's match programme and web site
Each partner will be adopted by 2 or 3 players who will make at least 2 personal appearances on behalf of the charity each year
Donation from the club's fundraising proceeds
Access to signed shirts, balls and tickets for fundraising purposes.
"Choosing the charity partners was a very difficult decision," said John Morris, Chairman of Northampton Town's Charitable Foundation.
"We had over 30 applications and we could easily have said yes to them all, they were all such worthy causes. We hope we have got a good balance across the spectrum with the focus very much on helping local charities, or national charities who have a local base. The aim of the foundation is to help the community of Northampton.
"The applications we had came in from all over the country, and that shows how highly charity groups rate the community work of Northampton Town Football Club and how highly the club is respected. We have contacted all of those who were unsuccessful this year to say that while they were not successful in being appointed an official partner, we will still assist their fundraising work in various ways over the next 12 months.
"Obviously the main focus of our work will be on the appointed partners though, and we are looking forward to helping them make a real difference to the communities they support."
The Alzheimer's Society
The Northamptonshire branch works to improve the quality of life of people affected by dementia. They are hoping to raise money to help support the growing need for dementia carers in Northamptonshire and to set up more 'Living with dementia' centres across the county.
The Alzheimer's Society will be adopted by Steve Guinan and Joe Benjamin
Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
The Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) was established in 2003 and exists to provide a HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) to the counties of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and the Milton Keynes area. Their service routinely carries senior Doctors and Consultants to the scene of incidents in just minutes, providing lifesaving treatment and medication at the scene and en-route to hospital. The Air Ambulance takes the hospital to the patient which provides the best possible chance of a full recovery. The WNAA is a registered charity and relies totally on public donations, fundraising activities and sponsorship. The average cost per mission is around £1000 and the annual basic running cost of the service is over £1.5 million. Currently only able to operate in daylight hours due to the restrictive leasing costs of flying at night, WNAA aims to become the first service in the UK to operate 24 hours per day.
The Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance will be adopted by Luke Guttridge and Chris Dunn
MacMillan Cancer Support
MacMillan Cancer Support exists to help improve the lives of people living with cancer and their families and carers. One in 3 of us will get cancer and we are all affected. MacMillan are a source of support. They have set themselves an impressive ambition. Their primary goal for 2010 is to reach and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer. With this in mind, they are raising funds for four new specialist staff in Northamptonshire.
MacMillan Cancer Support will be adopted by Craig Hinton and Ryan Gilligan
Motor Neurone Disease Association
The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association is the only national organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland dedicated to the support of people with MND and those who care for them. The link up will help the (MND) Association raise their profile and assist with the purchase of more equipment, and assist them care for more people.
The Motor Neurone Disease Association will be adopted by Dean Beckwith and Alex Dyer
Thomas's Fund
Thomas's Fund is a charity founded in 2007 that provides music therapy in Northamptonshire for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses or a disability which, for medical reasons, means they are too ill to attend school for extended periods. Thomas's Fund needs to raise money to pay for a therapist to work across Northamptonshire, providing music therapy. Thomas Smith died at the age of 10 from a life-limiting neurodegenerative condition in 2004. He lived a short life, unable to attend school all year round, but thanks to his family, his life was packed with fun - a big part of which came through music. Music therapy had a vital role to play in Thomas's life. Had this charity existed, he would have benefited from being able to have music therapy at home, when he was too ill to attend school. There is no children's hospice in Northamptonshire. Such children and young people are in need of an emotional outlet and sensory stimulation. Music therapy provides this; it enables them to express themselves and use the medium of music, which can be more accessible than the use of words. Thomas's young brother Harry has the same condition and benefits from music therapy sessions at school.
Thomas's Fund will be adopted by Danny Jackman and Liam Davis
Northampton Samaritans
Samaritans provides confidential non-judgemental emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. They are currently looking for funds to help with the costs of a new training programme to increase the number of Samaritans available to help.
The Northampton Samaritans will be adopted by Giles Coke
Noahs Ark Play Group, Duston
Noahs Ark Play Group has a limited amount of time left in their current premises due to the expansion of St Lukes CEVA Primary School. They are therefore purchasing a purpose built mobile classroom. They have secured a 90% grant for this, but to need to raise the remaining 10%.
Noahs Ark Play Group will be adopted by Andy Holt and Abdul Osman
KidsAid
KidsAid is a Northampton-based charity providing therapeutic support for children and young people who have suffered any form of trauma. KidsAid is a new charity working to help children who have suffered from traumatic events, ranging from illness and peer pressure through to family bereavements, domestic violence and abuse. Early intervention to support children brings real benefits to their young lives and will help to ensure these traumas will not manifest in later life, causing them serious problems in the future. KidsAid works with schools, local authorities and other voluntary bodies to support vulnerable children and their families.
KidsAid will be adopted by Adebayo Akinfenwa
Supporters who wish to support the Charitable Foundation's fundraising are reminded that they can take part in The Run 09 on behalf of the foundation. For more details on The Run 09, please visit www.the-run.org.
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION TRUSTEES
John Morris (Chairman), Gareth Willsher (Secretary), Paula Kane (Treasurer), David Jackson (The Managing Director of the club's official sponsor, Jackson Grundy), Paul Griffiths (Chief Executive of the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce) and Gareth Kingston (Long time supporter of the club and experience of working within the charitable sector.)
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION PATRONS
Stuart Gray (Manager, Northampton Town Football Club), Andy Holt(Player, Northampton Town Football Club), Simon Jagger (Heart Radio)
