The One Pack Project will involve a mixture of face-to-face and online delivery, and the distribution of resources to encourage an ethos of working together among the pupils of Wolverhampton and a reminder that everyone is equal and has a part to play in society.
Wolves have been promoting all these values as part of their first ever One Pack Week, culminating in the One Pack fixture against West Ham at Molineux on Monday evening.
Wolves players will be wearing special One Pack warm-up shirts ahead of the game, which will then be sold via the club’s retail operation with the proceeds funding staff and resources for this new project.
“Thanks in part to the proceeds received from these sales, our education team will be able to link up with schools across the city to launch our One Pack Project,” explains Tom Warren, senior manager (projects) with Wolves Foundation.
“The idea is to teach them about the concept of One Pack, which has become a key part of how Wolves and Wolves Foundation operate, highlighting how everyone has a role to play at the club and the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
“I think those issues have never been more at the forefront of people’s minds, when you consider the support being given to various anti-discrimination initiatives at the moment and the increased awareness in clamping down on all types of discrimination within the game.
“I remember Romain Saiss once saying at a Foundation event that every single player in the team has a part to play when they get out on the pitch, and that there are so many different races, religions and people from different backgrounds working together for a common goal.
“That is the message we want to convey in the One Pack Project and relate it to everyday life – that no matter who you are, where you have come from or what your beliefs are, we can all work together.
“Wolverhampton is a fantastically diverse city and we want to celebrate that and bring together young people from a range of cultures to give each individual the opportunity to succeed.
“A lot of discrimination can stem from behaviour picked up by young people as they grow up, so we are really hoping that the One Pack mentality, something which the club live and breathe by and believe in 100 per cent, can perhaps challenge certain viewpoints and help make a positive difference in our local communities.”
All schools across Wolverhampton will be able to access the One Pack Project online resources free of charge, with the opportunities of face-to-face delivery and visits to lead assemblies to be explored as Covid restrictions ease.
“The idea will then be that when we get to the next One Pack Week, in a year’s time, we will be able to evaluate the project and hopefully see the difference with a large number of schoolchildren having learned and benefitted from it,” added Warren.
One Pack Week, the first of its kind at Wolves, has been created to celebrate and promote the equality, diversity and inclusion work undertaken across all areas of the club.
Click on the links below to see the latest One Pack Week features:
Rev David Wright on religion and equality
The matchday experience for disabled supporters
Long read | The inclusivity of women's football
Experiencing racism, challenging prejudice and instigating change
