With over 100 colleges signed up, the campaign aims to generate £1m of social value by creating a long term, sustainable programme of community wealth; encouraging volunteering and fundraising across the country.
Joining a growing number of voluntary and corporate partners supporting the FE sector’s campaign, The FA will raise awareness and provide opportunities for people to get involved with volunteering within their local communities.
This will be done via the organisation's recently launched BT Playmaker scheme. This free online course will help train volunteers for community football clubs and is available to anyone over the age of 14 who is interested in volunteering in grassroots football.
Paul Findlay MBE, National Volunteering Manager at the Grassroots Division of the FA Group says: “Grassroots football is a huge part of so many communities and is completely reliant on volunteers. The FA wants to encourage people to get involved and BT Playmaker has been launched to do just this.
“There is clearly great synergy between the Good for Me Good for FE campaign and BT Playmaker. Our online course covers how to get involved in the game as a volunteer; what it takes to create a fun session; how to connect with players and how to keep football safe for all. It also gives access to a range of free resources.
“We are delighted to be involved as a partner with the FE community. We want to help raise awareness of the benefits of volunteering generally – as well as giving access to a free training programme for anyone interested in supporting community football. Volunteering is fantastic for people’s wellbeing so this is a win win for us all.”
The FA joins the Scouts, NAVCA and SLQ Sports Leaders as partners of Good for Me Good for FE – all encouraging volunteering on a national scale to help the campaign reach its target of generating £1m of social value.
The principals leading the campaign, Jo Maher from Loughborough College, Stuart Rimmer from East Coast College and Sam Parrett from London South East Colleges, add: “We are delighted to see our campaign gaining so much support and traction from so many sectors. The FA is a fantastic partner, offering a range of volunteering opportunities for our FE network through BT Playmaker - and demonstrating the scope of activities on offer to people who want to support their communities.
“Many FE staff and students are already giving their time to volunteering and making a difference. Good for Me Good for FE will help us to harness and expand this work – enabling us to demonstrate the very positive contribution FE makes to people’s lives.
For more information about the Good for ME Good for FE campaign visit: www.LSEC.ac.uk
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