Blind Football - Devon

The Pitch

Problem statement

Simply, the are no current offerings available for B1 Blind Football sessions available in Devon. As a result, the Devon FA have approached Exeter City Community Trust to ask if we could set up a programme. We have been provided with two small grants to start us off. The IBF have provided blind footballs and masks. The FA have provided £500 to cover some costs. However, our plan to provide an initial 10 fortnightly sessions, starting 7th January 2023 will already run at a loss. As a result, we are looking for additional funding from South West Water to support the programme and extend it further into the future, benefiting blind persons in the local community and Devon wide.

Solution

The cost of running the initial 10 sessions for B1 Blind Football will be as follows: Wonford Sports Centre Hire: £52.50 for 1.5hrs Staff: £10.00 per hour = £150. This will provide a Lead Coach and a qualified assistant as a Volunteer. Total cost for 10 sessions is £675 The additional funding provided by South West Water would allow for a further 25 fortnightly sessions running until May 2024. We are committed to providing footballing opportunities for all blind and partially sighted adults & children across Devon. Sport is often the springboard to developing health benefits, friendships and confidence etc

Why are we best placed to deliver?

The Exeter City Community Trust has coaches with the following qualifications which are suitable for the delivery of B1 Blind Football: FA Blind Football, FA Disability Football, FA Level 2 C Licence, FA Level 3 Emergency First Aid in Football (EFAiF), FA Welfare Officer and FA Safeguarding Adults and Children. We have strong relationships with In Focus School / Vision Impairment and Complex Needs Charity and Paignton Blind Society. We have delivered Mixed Disability / Partially Sighted / Blind Football sessions at after school clubs with these partners during term times in the past. The positive effects of participation in sport for a visually impaired person cannot be underestimated

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

8 people

Expected impact

As mentioned earlier in the application, we are committed to providing footballing opportunities to blind people across the whole of Devon. Football is often the springboard to new opportunities, health benefits, new friendships and renewed or increased confidence. The positive impact of football on a blind person cannot be underestimated and our skilled coaches want to make the difference in helping others achieve their goals. In doing so, we hope to increase awareness of blind football and increase participation so that more can benefit. To measure impact we intend to ask participants to complete pre and post session questionnaires (every 10 sessions) to understand the outcomes of improved physical health and activity, mental health and wellbeing and progression via Devon FA's football pathways. Furthermore, we will record age, gender, demographic, deprivation and ethnicity to measure inclusivity.

Track record

Exeter City Community Trust has been running parasport football programmes with help from our partners at the Devon FA, EFL Trust and PLCF for many years. Our coaches are fully trained in all forms of disability related football coaching and hold FA qualifications for the like. We also work closely with disability related schools and charities in Devon to ensure our reach is wide enough to ensure all have the opportunity to participate. Please see our Parasport programmes listed on our website for a full list of programmes we currently offer: https://exetercct.org/programmes/parasport/ In 2021 we had 151 participants with a disability take part in 226 distinct football sessions. We intend to increase this by adding Blind Football to our list of disability related programmes and our intention, with South West Waters help, is to make it a mainstay in Exeter and Devon.

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