The Wellington Phoenix have welcomed the New Zealand Community Trust’s (NZCT) transformative support for the Football For All programme.
NZCT have made an in-principle commitment to the programme of $300,000 each year through till 2026.
The Phoenix, with funding from the Lloyd Morrison Trust, launched Football For All in 2020 with the aim of removing barriers for playing football, such as registration fees, equipment costs, transportation difficulties and communication barriers.
The initiative works predominantly with refugee and immigrant communities, lower socio-economic families, and local Pasifika and iwi.
Starting from a base of 47 participants in the Wellington region in 2020, the programme, which is now run in partnership with Capital Football, saw 1,051 participants engaged in the programme last year across Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Auckland and Canterbury.
With NZCT’s support the Football For All programme estimates it will be able to remove barriers for almost 8,000 rangatahi and tamariki across Aotearoa to play football or futsal.
Wellington Phoenix general manager David Dome has hailed NZCT’s commitment.
“It’s fantastic,” Dome said. “As a club we couldn’t be prouder to be involved in the Football For All programme.
“What started four years ago as just a small, localised programme is now truly changing the landscape of football in New Zealand.
“It’s a testament to the dedication of everyone involved, from our funders to the participating community groups and the football clubs themselves.”
Football For All wouldn’t be a reality if it wasn’t for the Lloyd Morrison Trust, NZCT, New Zealand Police, New Balance, Up Foundation and several other key community partners.
READ MORE: Wellington Phoenix recognised for their ‘Football For All’ programme >>>>
This story was first published on July 19, 2024.
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