Northampton Town Football Club's Charitable Foundation has appointed its official charity partners for the 2017/2018 season.
The club will be working with a wide cross section of charities, both local and further afield, and partnering with charities who help the young, the disadvantaged, cancer patients and those who provide emergency medical assistance.
The charities chosen are;
Northampton Hope Centre
The Northampton Hope Centre work to relieve poverty and tackle the causes of homelessness in Northampton. In January two members of club staff took part in the 'Big Sleep Out', sleeping rough overnight to raise money for and awareness of the plight of homeless people in Northampton.
Macmillan
Provide support, information and advice to cancer patients both in Northampton and across the country.
Northampton District Scouts
The Northampton District Scouts are a charity within the Scout Association delivering scouting to young people within Northampton. Their key objectives are to help young people enjoy new adventures; experience the outdoors; interact with others; learn new skills; make new friends; gain confidence; and develop by working in teams and thinking for themselves. They currently offer scouting to 1,400 young people in Northampton, and are supported by 510 adults in a variety of volunteer roles.
Northamptonshire Search & Rescue
This is a charity that is on call 24/7, 365 days a year. They rely totally on donations, grants and sponsorship to function and have delivered 4,230 hours of volunteer time on over 30 searches for missing people in Northamptonshire. They have knowingly saved lives of people in Northamptonshire through their direct intervention.
SpecialEffect
SpecialEffect help users with disabilities enjoy video games and the latest technology. In the past they have helped and supported Cobblers fan Derry Felton.
Leon Barwell Foundation
Set up following the sad passing of Northampton Saints Rugby Club Chairman Leon Barwell, the charity supports families affected by cancer by helping them create memories that are everlasting.
South Northants Responders
Based in the south of Northamptonshire, this charity is a Community First Response (CFR) team, made up of volunteers. These volunteers are highly trained individuals who operate under the governance of East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The scheme was set up because approximately 600 people die each year unnecessarily of cardiac arrest and those who live in a rural area can expect a slower response from the emergency sServices than town dwellers.
Cynthia Spencer Hospice
Based in Northampton, Cynthia Spencer provides hospice and palliative care services for south Northamptonshire, admits approximately 400 in-patients each year and rely on support and donations to offer the services they do.
Prostate Cancer UK
The official charity partner of the EFL, they offer support to patients who have prostate cancer. They recently held the Football to Amsterdam cycle event, where four members of Northampton Town Football Club staff cycled from London to Amsterdam to raise money and profile.
"As a club we are delighted to partner with such a diverse, wide ranging number of charities," said Chairman Kelvin Thomas.
"We have seen many times how the power of football can help a local community, and as a club we pride ourselves on being at the heart of Northampton.
"Over the last few months we have seen staff get involved in activities from sleeping out overnight to cycling from London to Amsterdam to support our partners, while the players have made countless visits to support charities, events, schools and good causes. Our community team are more active than ever in Northamptonshire and beyond, and we hope by partnering with these charities we can continue to make a real difference to the lives of the people of Northamptonshire and beyond.
"I have personal experience of working with some of these charities, and am proud to be a patron of the Hope Centre and a Vice-President of Special Effect, so I have seen first hand some of the terrific work that goes on and I am pleased the club will be working with some fantastic charities in 2017/18.”
John Morris, Chairman of the club's Charitable Foundation, said "As always, we had a large number of charity groups keen to partner with the club for the coming season. We carefully considered all applications and have drawn up a list of charities to cover a wide range of ages, circumstances and situations.
"I know the club will continue to work with as many charities as possible, so while the focus will be on the official charity partners, I know they will support every charity as much as they can."
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 on the club web-site
Each partner will be adopted by 2 or 3 players who will make personal appearances on behalf of the charity each year
3 charities will receive a donation from the club's FA Community Shield share
Access to signed shirts, balls and tickets for fundraising purposes.
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION TRUSTEES
John Morris (Chairman), Gareth Willsher (Secretary), Nick Ancel (Treasurer), David Jackson (The Managing Director of club partner, Jackson Grundy), Paul Griffiths (Chief Executive of the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce), Mark Beesley (journalist) and Gareth Kingston (long time supporter of the club and experience of working within the charitable sector.)