It’s all part of Active Through Football, a Sport England project funded by the Football Foundation which Wolves Foundation are delivering to increase more football-based activities across targeted communities in the city.
The Foundation had already linked up with NPV on Active Through Football but, when sessions restart on Thursday 1st September, there will be a renewed focus on attracting 18 to 30-year-olds to develop their skills.
There is another strong Wolves link as the founder of NPV back in 1998, and continuing leader of the project is Joe Jackson, who made one appearance for the club back in the 1980’s as part of a career spent largely in the upper echelons of non-league as both player and manager.
“In a nutshell, NPV Football Development is working with Wolves Foundation on the Active Through Football project to deliver a football programme to engage young people between the ages of 18 and 30,” says Jackson.
“It is just aimed at getting people more active along with all the other benefits such as having fun, building relationships, connecting with others, building confidence and improving mental and physical wellbeing.
“That is what do we with NPV, where we have a lot of young people on our programme, but are now hoping to increase participation within this age range thanks to the Foundation and Active Through Football.
“The other side of the coin is that if there is anyone who comes along and also wants to further themselves by looking towards gaining qualifications then we can help with that and signpost them to the relevant opportunities, such as FA coaching courses.
“We also have a peer mentoring process as well with people of similar ages, backgrounds and experiences who will be here to support anyone wanting to develop their skills which is also really important.
“So, the project is open to people from across the city both to come along and have fun playing football but also take advantage of other opportunities to progress themselves if they would like to.”
The sessions, which are completely free, will run from 6pm-7pm every Thursday at Heath Town Park, starting from 1st September.
“Active Through Football is a five-year project focusing on opening up many different strands of football-based activities across the community,” says Wolves Foundation’s Active Through Football project officer, Liam Turner.
“Joe already does some fantastic work with NPV Football Development which we have been pleased to support through Active Through Football, and now we are working together to encourage more 18 to 30-year-olds to become active alongside the potential for them to explore coaching opportunities which in some cases may even lead to a career.
“We would encourage anyone from that age range who wants to get active but also have fun to pop along and give the sessions a try, and hopefully we will be able to engage plenty of young people from across the city to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Sign up for the sessions at npvfootdev.co.uk or for more information email npvfootballdevelopment@yahoo.co.uk
