A year of twists and turns for Burnley FC in the Community

Burnley FC in the Community, alongside many charities, businesses and communities, has faced a number of challenges over the past few years. Fast-forward to 2023, and the cost-of-living crisis has placed increased demand on the operations of the charity. From the day-to-day costs of providing much-needed food parcels to families, to running two community facilities, whilst energy prices soar; there has never been a more important time to be resilient. Helen Gurman, CEO of Burnley FC in the Community, shares the story of how the charity has worked hard to recover and rebuild up to full operation.

Burnley FC in the Community is the not-for-profit, self-financed official charity of Burnley Football Club and since 2014, we have worked to positively impact and transform the lives of the people in Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, the Ribble Valley, and West Yorkshire.

Through our wide range of work across areas including education and employability, community welfare and inclusion, football development, and our thriving portfolio of community facilities-The Leisure Box, Whitehough Outdoor Centre, and the Foodbank, we’re working hard to use the power of Burnley FC to inspire, support and deliver positive change for all.

Challenging Times

Our charity work encompasses key areas including mental health, education, youth violence, food poverty and so much more. Over the past few years, these areas within our community have needed our support more than ever, which has placed a high demand on the charity to deliver.

Though we are embedded within the ethos of Burnley FC, we are financially independent of the football club, which means we rely on fundraising, donations, sponsorships and grants to fund the work we do. As a result, the support we have received from our trustees, partners, and businesses over the past few years has been critical to enable us to continue running our programmes to support our local community.

Increase In Demand

In 2022, we provided enough food to support 47,011 people through our foodbank. This is an increase of 62 per cent from over 29,012 people in 2021.

The cost-of-living crisis played a massive role in this growth, but the change in our business model - from delivering parcels, to becoming a distribution centre, allowed us to access more people, without having to change the staff infrastructure.

The volunteers at the foodbank play a vital part in delivering an accessible service for all and reaching as many people as possible. We rely heavily on the good will of partners, including Burnley Together,

Burnley Leisure and Islamic Relief to name but a few. Participants from our provisions, including the veterans, and the football club partners, have also supported the operation; from packing bags through to helping deliver parcels. We are very fortunate to be part of a network that is very community driven.

New Partnerships

Over the past year, we have been overwhelmed with the support we received from partners, from offering their time volunteering, to supporting our individual programmes. Alongside this, in 2022 we trengthened our portfolio when we partnered with FUNDA to develop the existing soft play area at the Leisure Box into FUNDA LAND.

This enabled us to focus on the facility with our existing provisions, expansion and utilisation of amenities such as the pitches, Clip n’ Climb and court offering, whilst being able to promote a brand-new play area, which complements our offering to become more of a day out for the family.

Despite a year of twists and turns, we have benefited from extra support from Burnley Football Club, who throughout the season, have been brilliant supporters of the charity. From visiting and joining in with our community provisions to being part of our annual charity dinner, which was an unforgettable evening raising over £60,000 (a record-breaking fundraiser for Burnley FC in the Community).

Community Support

The residents of Burnley have helped us to maintain resilience in an endless number of ways. This includes everything from volunteering for the charity, donating items to our foodbank, attending our charity events, fundraising for us, and most importantly, getting involved in our programmes. We would not have been able to overcome the challenges of the past few years so successfully if it wasn’t for our community members and we are incredibly grateful for their support. If there’s one thing to be said about Burnley, it’s the pride of the badge that brings people together.

Some Of Our Successes

Despite the challenges, we have adapted to the climate we’re in, and the support from our key stakeholders has, amongst so many other things, enabled us to:

• Help members of our community living with Dementia and Alzheimer’s, by expanding our No Nay Never Forget programme;

• Relaunch our Limitless Clarets Sport programme (formerly known as the Disability Sports Programme), which has expanded from focusing on football to providing free sessions for children with special educational needs and disabilities, covering multi-sports, sensory, and much more;

• Launch the brand-new employability provision ‘Hatch’, which provides paid job opportunities to the unemployed, giving local businesses the chance to help young people get onto the career ladder, and ‘give back’ to the community. In return, companies are reimbursed for providing their support.

We are aware that challenging times are not over for the charity, or our community, and we are prepared to continue working hard and expanding our projects and programmes.

It’s amazing to see the way the community has pulled together to support this fantastic charity. If you would like to find out how your organisation can get involved, please contact Ben, head of partnerships: b.bottomley@burnleyfc.com

Just three years ago Cherrytree Bakery was faced with cancelled orders and a drop to ten percent turnover as the pandemic hit.

So, it makes it all the sweeter that in 2023 the bakery is now expanding into a state-ofthe art facility to meet increased demand.

The bakery currently makes muffins, tray bakes and Chorley cakes for a large number of customers, who include leading supermarkets and coffee shops. The acquisition of the 12,000 sq ft building next to its headquarters will allow Burnley-based Cherrytree to expand its tray bake offer, meet additional demand and strike deals in new markets.

Over recent months the business has won a series of new contracts with major national retailers and has ambitions to double its turnover in the next three years to £50 million.

Cherrytree Bakery managing director Mark Beaumont said: “We are delighted to have completed the deal to buy the facility. It’s right next door to our existing bakery, so the location is perfect.

“The business has enjoyed a number of years of successful growth and demand continues to be high, so this is a logical step forward. We have ambitions to grow the business significantly and this expansion will give us the perfect platform.

“We have a strong order book, enjoy great client relationships, and have significant demand for our range. Companies work with us because they know that we produce exceptional products, and this is down to attention to detail and teamwork.”

Cherrytree was supported in the purchase by Barclays and Shakira Musarat, Barclays relationship director, said: “We are delighted to support Cherrytree Bakery on the next stage of their growth journey. They are an innovative, exciting business with strong social and environmental focus, creating jobs and opportunities in the heart of Lancashire.”