Voice for Children Community Interest Company (CiC) is a non-profit organisation which works with Local Authorities and organisations to improve the lives of our most vulnerable young people in society. We offer services such as mentoring where we work with young people on a 1-1 basis to improve their lives.
Cheshire East council have been running a football group with care leavers to give them a hobby but also to improve their emotional well-being. Some of our young people are 17, living independently and don’t have enough money for extra activities. We are trying to raise funds so we can ensure the group can continue. The group is an important part of some of these young people’s lives, they sometimes have no family, no friends and are on their own in their properties.
The group currently has a minimum of 10 young care leavers who attend regularly every week, some of this group also includes Asylum seekers and this activity is their only opportunity to engage with the local community. A lot of these young people suffer from mental health issues and playing football helps them to manage this. These young people have been in care and as care leavers they have a more challenging start in life than most. Voice for Children is keen to support the continuation of the group and wants it to expand to help give as many young people as possible a sense of community.
We are trying to raise funds to pay for all the league fees for a year as due to their circumstances the young people don't have enough money to play, so the council currently help to fund this and Voice for Children also offer transportation to get them to the training sessions and matches.
A new football kit will cost £25 per young person and the match fees for a year including the games is £500. The money raised will go towards new kits for all the players, as currently the young people are using old kits that have been donated kits, some of these don't fit and are worn. Our players often turn up in their tracksuits as we currently have no shorts.
Some of these young people have never left their home town or been on a holiday. Many have been away from family for years and some have suffered from abuse both physical and emotional. A further goal (excuse the pun!) is to aim for enough funds that would enable Voice for Children to pay for the team to take part in a football tournament against another authority in Devon. To cover this, we would need in the region of £1250, this would cover fees for the tournament, accommodation and food for the weekend plus the transport for the team of 15 young people.
Please help us raise this funding to continue the group which is the only outlet for some of these young people and is a vital activity which makes them feel part of something and puts a smile on their face.
Thank you
Voice for Children (CiC)
www.voiceforchilderen.org.uk