About

Reds in the Community is registered charity delivering community and charitable activities on behalf of Barnsley Football Club. We use the power of football and Barnsley Football Club to engage and improve the lives of local people.

Professional football clubs are at the heart of their communities, not just geographically but more importantly, emotionally. They have a unique connection and draw that enables them to reach further and wider than others. This provides a great opportunity and responsibility to make a difference.

Using the power of football and Barnsley Football Club we aim to engage and improve the lives of local people through a range of activities and projects within four key themes – Education, Health, Social Inclusion and Sports Participation

Did you know about our….

Health Programme

In partnership with Be Well Barnsley, we have successfully delivered a series of health initiatives in 2017. Over four programmes 82 participants attended our Fit Reds and Walking Reds initiatives across the Barnsley Boroughs.

  • 95% increased knowledge to maintain and sustain a healthy diet and lifestyle
  • 100% increased physical exercise regimes after completing their programme
  • 123kg weight lost by Fit Reds participants over four programmes
  • 113cm reduction in waist circumference by participants
  • 87% of participants successfully reduced their blood pressure

Education Centre

This academic year, 77 learners aged 16 to 18 have studied at Oakwell with Reds in the Community. Our courses are designed to challenge, develop and nurture young people from all backgrounds and abilities within the community, helping them to progress onto further education following their time with us.

  • 96% of our learners complete their course successfully
  • 94% of our learners said their overall experience was good or excellent
  • 97% of our learners said the individual support received was good or excellent
  • 94% of our learners rated the tutors as good or excellent

Sports participation

We run a variety of clubs and activities to engage young people in the Barnsley boroughs, whether it be a coaching session at our Academy Indoor Centre, or our Soccer Camps, which run during the school holidays.

  • 158 individual participants on our Streetgames sessions in Barnsley
  • 585 individual participants attending our Premier League Kicks sessions throughout 2017
  • 3,431 total sum of participants that attended our Soccer Camps in 2017
  • 367 attendees at our Saturday Matchday Club through 2017
  • 3,489 total of attendees participants that attended our Friday and Saturday Coaching Club

Player Involvement

Barnsley Football Club players have helped to support and deliver a range of projects and initiatives run by RITC across the Barnsley Borough, engaging in activities including school visits NCS, disability sessions and more. *(Figures shown are since the start of the 2017/18 season).

  • 56 Player visits have been conducted since the start of the new academic year.
  • 120 Players have given up 120 hours of their time to support projects in the community
  • 4 Key themes that we engage our participants with our work
  • 2 Player Ambassadors announced heading into 2018

Social Inclusion

Our range of activities is not limited to just football. Our popular National Citizen Service programme has helped change the lives of nearly 500 young people aged 16-17 across Barnsley this year, while our disability sessions have beaten its EFL targets by around 20%.

  • 263 Our Every Player Counts and Short Breaks programmes engaged 263 disabled young people and adults
  • 470 Participants took part on our four-week long NCS programmes across three waves
  • 11,985 Hours of volunteering work completed by NCS participants.
  • 274 Individual participants that have taken part in our Soocercise, UV Football and Premier League Girls sessions

Schools Programme

Throughout the academic year, we work closely with schools across the Barnsley and Wakefield areas, helping to deliver a wide range of lessons, sports sessions, as well as arranging visits from professional players.

28,531 Total number of participants who have engaged with our sessions in 2017.

Initiatives include; Premier League Primary Stars, EFL Competitions / tournaments, Curriculum Lessons, Lunch Clubs, After school Clubs, Healthy Kicks, Respect Programme, Sports Day, Book Club, Sponsored Penalty Shootout