Crewe United ‘Phoenix’ Programme

Aim

Our Programme aims to overcome the negative effects Covid-19 has had on our community by re-engaging boys and girls back into sport.

Club Background

Crewe United Football Club was formed in 1963, starting out playing in a parks pitch at Woodvale Park in Belfast. Within a short space of time the club acquired its own ground near the village of Glenavy, and a few miles outside the City of Lisburn. Over the years Crewe worked its way up the football structures from junior football and currently play in Northern Ireland’s Mid Ulster Intermediate League, the top Division of Intermediate football.

Like any other club Crewe has had success and failure on the pitch, but there is something that sets our club apart. We aim to bring all sides of the community together through the medium of football. Crewe has sought to develop understanding and respect and to be tolerant of differences, whilst acknowledging common characteristics and interests. Throughout the troubled history of Northern Ireland Crewe have been a leading light in showing that football can bring a commonality and shared interest that no other medium, and very few other clubs could provide.

We strive for excellence both on and off the pitch. We have three senior men’s teams, a senior ladies team; this is complimented by two girls youth teams and and six boys youth teams which have been formed in recent years. Though hard work and dedication of our people we provide young and old a fantastic venue to come and play, enjoy and experience what football, and our club, has to offer. We would welcome anyone to come and join our Crewe family.

Crewe United has a long and proud history of using football to bring a brighter outlook to people’s lives. For over 55 years the club has helped those less fortunate in society and has a reputation for building bridges and promoting commonality and shared goals.

Our philosophy is based on loyalty and personal commitment. This is a philosophy that will always remain.

How Covid-19 has affected the club

Covid-19 lockdowns had a significant impact on us all, many of us are ‘burnt out’ both mentally and physically and are now stuck in a rut. We’ve noticed our club members feeling these detrimental effects; with our participation levels decreasing compared to what they once were prior to the pandemic. We want everyone in the local community to know that Crewe Park is a safe and enjoyable environment to return to sport.

What the project is about

At Crewe United, we are keen to support our local community in rising up from the ashes, and moving on from the negative impact Covid lockdowns have had. We can’t do this alone, we need you to help promote and donate to our project!

With this project we need you to help respond to the effect Covid-19 has had on all our lives. The re-set button has been pressed and despite the difficult times we have all been through it is now time to build back better and stronger.

The Phoenix Programme will reach out to young people from the local area on low income and sometimes marginalised by society. We all have our part to play in re-engaging after the pandemic and through this project we will set our club at the heart of community recovery.

What the crowd money is going to be spent on

Your donations will help us run a football and empowerment programme which targets 40 participants from the local Lisburn and Glenavy area. We are targeting young people aged 11-18, male and female, from various ethnic minority groups and low-income families.

We will host fun training sessions followed by interactive workshops centered on resilience and social interaction three times per week for twelve weeks. The programme will be free to all participants, your donations will help to pay for coaches, workshop facilitators and equipment. 

Whether getting back into football, or trying it for the first time - the Crewe Phoenix Programme aims to re-engage boys and girls, aged 11-18 - from the Glenavy, Crumlin and Lisburn area – back into society using the sport we all know and love.

How it will benefit the club

The club will benefit from this programme by hopefully recruiting the participants into our youth structures. These new (and hopefully some old) members will increase our participation levels within the club back to what they once were prior to the pandemic.

With your help, we can help those most effected from the pandemic, rise from the ashes.

This project successfully funded on 11th February 2022