We are delighted to announce Thatcham Tornadoes FC have become our latest Disability Pledge Club.

The Pledge Project has the very simple aim to raise awareness of Disability Football across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and we are pleased to announce TTFC as a new partner club.

The Berkshire based club will support Disability Football with five pledges over the course of the next two seasons. The pledges were decided by the clubs committee and in line with the clubs our ambitions and development. Over the next two seasons Thatcham Tornadoes FC have pledged to:-

1) Support a BOBi registered team whom aim to participate in regular Inclusive Football Festivals.  
2) Put two Coaches through the Coaching Disabled Footballers Course.
3) Make regular contact with local educational centres, council programmes and wider disability organisation to promote local disability football provision.
4) Host and manage Disability CPD events, where possible, at our Club Facilities.
5) Provide facilities for inclusive football events, where possible, at our Club Facilities.

Berks & Bucks FA look forward to supporting Thatcham Tornadoes FC on this journey and helping the club achieve this commitment to Disability Football. We want to promote the vast array of different Disability Football opportunities across Berkshire & Buckinghamshire. Each season one challenge is getting information to those that could benefit from this provision. 

Sadly we hear about missed opportunities for potential new disabled players joining clubs because they were unaware of the local disabled football provision. Did you know there are 53 Affiliated Disability Teams in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire? Did you know that the BOBi League that serves Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire is one of the largest Disability Football Leagues in England?

It’s time for this to change and we are asking All Grassroots Clubs to help us by pledging their support to promote disability football. Taking part in the Pledge Project is easy; clubs can make a pledge that suits the ambitions of the club itself. The pledge can be as big or small as the club decides but all pledges, regardless of size, will contribute to raising awareness of Disability Football.

There are three areas we are asking clubs to support; Awareness, Coach Education and Playing Opportunities.

Pledges don’t have to cost anything to the club and can require little time to complete but could have a big impact. In its simplest form a club could pledge to display the BBFA Disability Football Club Directory in their clubhouse. We have these professionally printed and ready to send out to clubs. By promoting this Club Directory a Player, Parent or Coach from either your own club or opposition might see this and lead to a player with a disability getting involved with a local club.

If you are interested in learning more about The Pledge Project please visit the dedicated webpage. The webpage has lots more information about the project with further examples of potential Pledges. We also have a one-page information sheet which is easy to print off and share with your community members attached to the bottom of this news item, please find below.

If your club is interested in making a Pledge or Discussing Potential Pledge Ideas please contact Disability Football Development Officer, Jonathan Coles by email Jonathan.Coles@Berks-BucksFA.com or call 01235 558451 to find out more about what’s going on in your local area.