Walking football club gets £20,000 National Lottery boost

A walking football club is celebrating netting £20,000 to extend its programme to reach more people across Inverclyde.

Inverkip Walking Football Club (IWFC) received the cash boost, which runs over the next two years, from National Lottery Community Fund.

This will enable the club to encourage more people to take up the beautiful game.

Chairman Mike Orobczuk said: “We are absolutely delighted.

“Peter Hill, our treasurer and I put the application in and I am sure we are one of the first organisations to receive funding from the National Lottery in Inverkip but we have members from all across Inverclyde.”

“The funds will be used to expand and strengthen our walking football program, so that more people across Inverclyde can benefit from regular physical activity, social connection and improved well being.”

The club currently run five weekly sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Inverkip Hub with male and female teams whose ages varying from mid-50s to early 80s.

Some members of the club used to play football at school and now they are playing agani in over 50s, over 60s, and over 70s teams.

Inverkip Walking Football Club started in May 2017 with the aim of promoting walking football, physical and mental well-being for men and woman over 50 years old in Inverclyde.

The club boasts players from Inverkip, Wemyss Bay, Port Glasgow, Gourock, Greenock, Skelmorlie, Beith, Largs, and Glasgow, who participate in five weekly games at the Inverkip Hub 3G football pitch.

The teams participate in a West of Scotland League every quarter as well as playing friendlies with other walking football teams.

In the last few years the club has also widened its remit by working with local health groups to promote awareness of cancer research, mental health, diabetes, prostate, pancreatic and skin cancer.

As a direct result of these awareness sessions, several players were able to identify the early stages of prostate cancer and seek early treatment.

The club has up to 60 players who participate on a weekly basis and benefit from the physical fitness, mental health and social relationships.

National Lottery players raise over £32 million a week for good causes across the UK.

Thanks to them, The National Lottery Community Fund distributes over £600m a year through over 13,000 grants.

Anyone interested in joining the club should call Inverkip Hub on 01475 520 740.

FULL STORY at source: https://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/26190740.walking-football-club-gets-20-000-national-lottery-boost/

Related Posts

Port Glasgow church to host weekly walking football sessions

Port Glasgow Parish Church is offering a walking football programme every Monday. Hosted by The Lighthouse Wellbeing Group, the free weekly sessions begin at 6pm in the church halls. Walking football doesn’t allow running, and participants only have a certain number of touches of the ball before they must pass. Port Glasgow church walking football […]

Tranent walking football group scores with over-50s

Walking football sessions for over-50s are providing a boost to mental health and wellbeing, camaraderie between players, and a space to meet new people in Tranent. Meeting every Wednesday at Foresters Park, the group has proven a success over the past decade and has now been given a cash boost. It is open to men […]

Football Therapy in Action at Kick Start FC Mental Health Awareness Tournament

To kick off Mental Health Awareness Week, local charity Kick Start FC hosted a remarkable Mental Health Awareness Football Tournament at The Sports & Social Club in Ludgershall, Wiltshire, uniting players and spectators to highlight the importance of mental health. Sponsored by local business Stannah, the tournament featuring 50 participants from Kick Start’s men’s, women’s, […]

Moulton Masters Launch 12 Hour Walking Football Event For Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer UK changing the game for men as walking football captures the imagination The cadence on the pitch may be slower, but Prostate Cancer UK’s walking football community is growing at pace – and you can get involved and help change the game for men. Whether you’ve been playing walking football for years or […]

Former Monkwick School trio are reunited after 60 years

A trio of former school friends have reunited and are playing football again after more than 60 years. Richard Arnold, Derrick Saddler and Peter Driver were all members of the all-conquering Monkwick Secondary School year group (now Thomas Lord Audley) in the mid-1960s and now play together for Stanway Rovers Walking Football Club. The trio […]

Old Bexhillians walking footballers triumph in four-team tournament

Old Bexhillians Walking Football Club triumphed in a four-team tournament in Paddock Wood up against Insulators Green, Insulators Yellow and Kings Hill. The teams played each other once with each game lasting 20 minutes straight through with no break. The Bexhillians were short of available players so took Alan Brown on loan from Hastings Hornets […]

Author: The Walking Football

You create the memories; we help you relive them forever!