Annual Review 2022/23

Annual Review 2022 - 2023

A WARM

WELCOME In this annual review, we invite you to relive the moments, stories, and triumphs that have defined our journey over the past year.

From developments in existing programmes and facilities, to brand new initiatives, we are proud to be able to support the community with our life changing work.

Discover how each of our programmes have helped to shape an organisation that thrives on change and continues to grow alongside the community it supports.

Here's to another year of making a difference!

Contents

A message from the CEO

Health & Wellbeing

Pg. 8

Pg. 18

Reflecting on a year of progress, hear from our CEO, Jamie Edwards.

Our goal is to help our community start well, live well, and age well.

Our five year strategy

Facilities & Developments

Pg. 10

Pg. 20

We outline our growth strategy for the next five years.

Helping us to create safer places for our community.

Our year in numbers

Fundraising & Partnerships

Pg. 12

Pg. 22

See our impact through financial growth and programme statistics.

From charity matches to throwbacks, our partners help make this possible.

Football & Participation

Appearances & Matchdays

Pg. 14

Pg. 24

Using the power of sport to inspire and develop the local area.

Connecting and inspiring our fans with the club they love

Education & Employability

Special Thanks

Pg. 16

Pg. 27

Our aim is to provide opportunities for our community to develop life skills.

A thank you to all who help us to make a difference in the community.

Foreword

They say sometimes adversity is needed in order to become successful.

It is without doubt we are living in challenging times. A cost of living crisis, rising energy costs and community challenges such as food poverty really demonstrate the importance of our work and that this is now so much more than a football club simply ‘giving back’.

This review highlights another year of outstanding and inspiring delivery that is just not possible without the outstanding workforce we are so lucky to have. Over 12,000 hours of delivery and 214,566 session attendees to our activities is a reflection of a football club being embedded in its local community.

On a personal note, this coming year will mark my 10-year anniversary at Shrewsbury Town and when I reflect back to 2014, we now have an unrecognisable foundation. A foundation that makes over £6.4 million of social return on investment annually, a foundation that creates the future supporter, a foundation that Shrewsbury Town FC and its supporters can be truly proud of.

This is a good time for me to personally thank everybody, from the many colleagues, the Chairman and club board, trustees, and partners who have supported and developed a vision turning into a reality.

Considerable time has been spent reflecting on the foundation’s purpose and new strategy in order to continue to evolve and develop as a charity.

Being the official charity of Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a unique position for the Foundation and a good place to start as we believe the foundation’s purpose is to connect the football club with its local community. We will do this by continuing to deliver innovating and inspiring activities that make a difference to the people and communities we live in. Whilst we can have little effect on the performance on the pitch, we can make a huge impact off it.

Finally, thank you to our participants, students, parents, funders, partners, volunteers, staff and trustees. Without you, Shrewsbury Town FC Foundation would not be able to deliver the inspiring and sometimes life changing work across Shropshire.

Jamie Edwards Chief Executive Officer

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Our Strategy "

"

This is more than simply ‘giving back’ this is about providing the foundations for a stronger and healthier community.

This year we have been shaping our five year strategy which focusses on four key areas: creating healthier and more active communities, improving educational and employability opportunities, creating safer places and spaces, and supporting our club and inspiring our fans. Through these key areas we want to shape the future of the foundation and ensure that we are continuing to make a significant social and economic contribution to the local community.

Over the next five years, our mission is for Shrewsbury Town Football Club to be widely recognised as more than a football club. As a charity our purpose is to connect the Club with its community beyond a matchday, whether that's through our programmes, our events or

10

by making our facilities a safe place to learn and develop.

The local community is at the heart of everything that we do and we are commited to provide a range of high quality actvities that support the growth of local people no matter their age or ability.

Through our staff, our programmes, and our wider social contributions we want to do more than give back to the local community.

This is more than simply "giving back".

This is about providing the foundations for a stronger and healthier community.

Create healthier & more active communities

Improve education & employability opportunities

Our programmes aim to help local people start well, live well, and age well.

We want to provide the necessary tools for our community to learn and develop skills for life.

Provide safer places & spaces

Support our club & inspire our supporters

Our facilities ambition is to act as a place for our community to thrive.

We want to be more than a football club, one that does more for its fans and for its community.

Year In Numbers Patron Roland Wycherley, MBE

Chair of Trustees Howard Thorne

Board of Trustees

£8,632,796

invested into Shropshire since 2008

• Ryan Jervis, OBE • Peter Brophy • Nick Jones • Mark Brammal • Marlon Miller • Dr Leanne Rimmer • Joe Masi • Dave Edwards

96%

retention of Shrewsbury Town College & University students

12,566

total hours of delivery

4,248

NHS hours saved through our Exercise on Referral programme

12

Exemplary grade achieved in the Premier League Primary Stars end of year report

214,566

aggregate session attendees

53

player appearances over the 2022/23 season

E

In

me o c

£1,797,191

nditure e xp

£1,628,515

24% - Education & Employability

17% - Core Funding

85%

- Direct

22% - Facilities & Development

11% - Health & Wellbeing

15%

- Overheads

19% - Football & Participation

6% - Fundraising & Events

+

£168,676

- Surplus

Financial Sustainability: £1,797,191

2023

£2,029,685

2022 £1,673,553

2021 £1,392,522

2020 £1,067,674

2019

252%

100

72

increase in facility bookings

new students enrolled at STCU

members of staff employed

Create

Healthier and more active communities

Football & Participation Covering ages 4 to 16, our Football & Participation offering allows young people to embrace their love of the beautiful game and learn new skills.

With over 600 weekly participants our Football and Participation programmes have continued to grow over the past 12 months.

Boys and girls football is delivered over three evenings of the week both in Shrewsbury and Ludlow giving aspiring young footballers the opportunity to progress into the club’s academy or the foundation delivered FA Emerging Talent Centre for girls.

into the academy joining another four players who have retained places within the Academy for another season.

The Emerging Talent Centre has seen 99 girls train and play during the 22/23 season with Sophie Eastwood and Sibusiso Mthethwa's progression from the centre to women’s first team regulars being a real success story for the programme.

of disabilities. Our popular matchday disability club has resulted in a substantial increase in Shrewsbury Town supporters with a disability attending football league matches.

Over the past 12 months we have seen four players progress

Our disability programme has seen a significant increase in participants, with weekly sessions catering for young people with a range

Premier League Kicks, another vital initiative, engaged with 420 young people in weekly football sessions delivered in areas of multiple deprivation across the county. The project actively aims to reduce antisocial behaviour with a focus on building relationships between participants and West Mercia Police.

8

600+

40+

Squads playing on a weekly or regular basis

Active participants in male, female and disability sessions

Hours of coaching delivery each week across Shropshire

17

Boys Football For ages 4 and up, we provide sessions that inspire, develop, and nuture young male players.

This year we have put a real focus on our youngest pathway, and now have over 50 regular attendees for our Mini Kickers sessions, which have grown substancially.

Our holiday clubs have also expanded allowing us to engage in delivery across Much Wenlock, Bishops Castle and Leominster.

Girls Football As female football continues to grow, we are proud to offer a range of sessions that promote pathways for players to embrace their passion and progress further.

Our sessions now cover a full U8's to U16's pathway at Shrewsbury under the FA’s Emerging Talent Centre, which has seen players progress to STFC Women's Team, a huge success for both us and the club.

Alongside Shrewsbury, our Ludlow centre has expanded their offer in the last 12 months and now have full groups from U10's to U14's.

Disability Provision Our proactive and inclusive disability sessions allow football to be a game for all, regardless of ability.

Our disability provision provides sessions for participants with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, cerebral palsy, dyspraxia, and powerchair users, proving that football can be enjoyed regardless of ability.

Additionally this year, our PAN disability team players visited Liverpool FC Academy and played against Liverpool FC and Manchester United's PAN teams.

52

99

Weekly attendance average of ShrewsAbility participants

Girls training and playing at our Emerging Talent Centres

10

420

Average number of matchday disability participants

participants engaged in PL Kicks to reduce anti-social behaviour

10

Players progressing to STFC Academy or Women's Team

19

Fixtures played by our U12's - U16's Disability Teams

"

"

The Foundation makes me proud to be part of a team Ben, coach & carer

Watch Ben's Story

Health & Wellbeing Through Gym Sessions and Health Hubs, our aim is to support our local community to start well, live well and age well.

Our Health and Wellbeing programmes have gone from strength to strength this year, and we are pleased to have seen consistent growth across many of our programmes.

One of our key successes is the Exercise on Referral programme, and through our partnership with the Shrewsbury Primary Care Network we have seen 177 people completing the twelve week programme this year alone. This has resulted in over 5000 hours of exercise rehabilition. By offering this service, we have helped to relieve pressure on the NHS

5k+

Hours of 1:1 fitness coaching delivery this year

by creating an exercise habit for participants and aiding towards reversing their health conditions.

With new members accessing our gym we have created a membership which allows our participants to continue their journey with us and support these new health habits.

Additionally, we have launched a number of new gym sessions to encourage local people to get involved and find the right session for them, whether that's 5K Friday or at our Zumba classes.

3360 Aggregate session attendees for our Extra Time Hubs

Lastly, our health hubs have seen an increase in numbers and through new funding from Parkinsons UK, we are now able to offer a dedicated Parkinsons Hub which runs in addition to our Extra Time, Military and Dementia Hubs, allowing us to support even more people than before.

The need for health support is growing and we are proud to not only offer these services, but to see so many utilising them.

2k+

Hours available for gym session delivery

23

Start Well By helping young people to make a positive start in life, we can support their development and increase the likelihood of them becoming healthy resilient adults.

It is important for us to promote a healthy lifestyle from a young age and this formulates a key part of our delivery in primary schools.

We are pleased to be promoting positive, healthy messages across local schools as part of our TeamTalk mental health programme, and the Lenny Lifestyle Project, which teaches young people about the benefits of exercise and healthy eating.

Live Well Regardless of age or ability, we are proud to offer opportunities for all to live an active lifestyle and improve health and wellbeing.

This year has seen many new members joining us in our outdoor gym, whether that's in our open gym sessions or dedicated workout groups.

Additionally with the growth of Shrewsbury Town College and University, more students are making use of our outdoor gym both as part of their curriculum and outside of their studies.

We hope to see this trend continue in the year ahead.

Age Well Due to Shropshire's older demographic, we provide programmes for older adults so that they can stay physically and mentally active for additional years.

We are pleased to see that numbers have increased for our both our Extra Time and Military Hubs this year, allowing us to support more people across Shropshire who would otherwise be without regular exercise and living in isolation. These sessions prove to be a life line for many, and provide a safe place for older adults and veterans to make new friends, stay active, and gain a new sense of purpose.

177

535

29

Participants completing the Exercise on Referral programme this year

Pupils taking part in our TeamTalk mental health coaching sessions

Monthly members of our gym and hub sessions

48

11+

260k

Walk and Talk sessions delivered across Shropshire

Unique sessions offered through our Health Hub and open gym

In total ran around the stadium as part of our 5k Friday sessions

"

"

The Foundation understand what we're going through, that's the strength of the friendship that's been made Debbie, wife & carer

Watch Debbie's Story

Improve

Education and employment opportunities

Education & Employability Whether it's through primary schools or by utilising football to reduce anti social behaviour, our education offering shows that our passion continues beyond the pitch.

Over the past 12 months our Education and Employability programme has successfully delivered meaningful and quality activities across the county.

Our primary education team, continued to deliver the Premier League Primary Stars project to a very high quality and reached over 4,500 participants through in-school delivery, teaching essential skills for both mental and physical well-being. In fact, 80% of Premier League Primary Stars participants reported increased confidence as a result of our delivery.

and literacy programmes, which includes "Reading The Game", were delivered to 57 schools across Shropshire with 990 children taking part.

Successful delivery of the Holiday Activity and Food programme saw 1034 amount of participants take part in Christmas, Easter and Summer holiday activities with 70,312 amount of meals distributed over this time.

Additionally, our healthy lifestyle

Our schools football festivals and tournaments saw 23 primary schools take part from Year 1 to Year 6. A real highlight of this was seeing Baschurch Primary represent Shrewsbury

1433

2204

Total number of primary sessions delivered

Unique number of primary participants over all programmes

Town at Wembley Stadium in the EFL Utilitia Kids Cup prior to the League 1 play offs.

Lastly, our alternative provision pathway, running in partnership with local secondary schools, has broadened horizons for individuals who were withdrawn from mainstream education.

Remarkably, these students have not only completed level 1 qualifications but have also seen a notable transformation in attendance, with rates soaring from below 50% to over 80%.

1800

Total hours of primary sessions delivered across Shropshire

31

"

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I’m a new person, I feel like I’ve got my life back. I’m part of a family, part of the community Michael, participant & steward

Watch Michael's Story

College & University Using the power of Shrewsbury Town Football Club, STFC College and University provides a place for young people to kick start their future in the sports industry.

Delivered in partnership with SCL Education, our unique college programme has not only given students the opportunity to represent Shrewsbury Town in a national college league, but also take part in two residential experiences this year at Aberystwyth University and Portugal. Both experiences provided essential life skills building confidence and resilience for students whilst creating lifelong memories.

Upon completion of our higher

67%

Improvement in student grades from their first to their last assignment

education courses, delivered in partnership with the University of South Wales, the foundation has been able to produce its future workforce, with former students currently making up 21% of of our total staff numbers. By completing a staggering 3800 hours of volunteering, students have been able to gain practical knowledge preparing them for their future careers. Now in its 9th year, the quality of the programme is making an impact outside of the foundation with former

students moving on to work within national governing bodies, public services, and senior roles at other charitable organisations.

2138

108

Hours of training, education, and football matches

Finally, thanks to significant investments in our facilities, we have seen a substantial increase in full time students across the further and higher education courses offered, and through the student’s hard work and perseverance, the programme achieved a 100% pass rate for the academic year.

Total students across our College and University programmes

35

Provide Safer places and spaces

Facility Investment & Future Developments

Our facilities offering has expanded, allowing us to support the community with new spaces to play, socialise, and enjoy the beautiful game.

This year we have seen a 252% increase in bookings compared to the previous year. We're proud to build stronger links with local teams and the community by offering a superb facility for local grassroots teams to play, from toddlers playing for the first time all the way to older adults playing walking football.

One of our top successes is the new “Brew and Amber” café, which is a popular space during matchday festivals, tournaments and throughout college and university hours.

Attached to the cafe is our new

4189 Total bookings across the 22/23 season

changing facility which opened in July. This offers a first-class changing room facility for our community hirers, education programme and Shrewsbury Town FC Women's Team.

We have also established strong connections with local businesses and services which have helped us to grow the stadium into a hub for the community. Over the past year we have worked closely with Shrewsbury Ark, offering a pitch for homeless people to play, Shropshire Supports Refugees, by providing mentored gym support, and Radfield Care, who use our hub for their weekly support sessions.

foundation attempt to ‘raise the bar’ again. With funding secured from the Department of Work and Pensions and the UK shared prosperity fund we will be delivering two ambitious employment programmes in partnership with a range of local partners.

In partnership with Parkinson’s UK we will extend our active ageing offer supporting our mission to create a more active community. Finally, through support of the Premier League Chartable Fund we will deliver a Fan Engagement programme working closely with Shrewsbury Town Football Club.

2023/24 will continue to see the

6740 Hours of community usage of our facilities

600+

Hot drinks sold in the first month of Brew & Amber cafe opening

39

Support Our club and inspire our fans

Fundraising & Partnerships

This year we have reflected heavily on nostalgia, creating unique experiences for fans and fostering a strong partnership with the football club.

We have organised an array of inclusive experiences, rekindled events from previous years and trialed new projects all in aid of raising unrestricted funds to further the work we can offer in the community!

his testimonial match here at the The Croud Meadow. We welcomed over 3,000 fans to watch Dave play against teammates from throughout his career at Shrewsbury and Wolves.

Key highlights from this year have been providing fan focused events that provide unique experiences for Shrewsbury Town supports, and helping to support the club to grow their relationship with fans.

Tying into the club’s kit launch for this season, we celebrated 50 years since club legend Graham Turner joined Shrewsbury Town FC, and hosted an evening looking back at Graham’s career, with a particular focus on the ‘78-’79 season. The event was a huge success providing fans the opportunity to reminisce, ask questions and celebrate a team that stood out in Salop history.

Back in March we collaborated with Dave Edwards to host

We continued to work alongside the club to host the first open

14

£360

Local businesses supporting us as Corporate Supporters

On average raised each matchday throughout the 22-23 season

day since 2017, and welcomed over 1000 fans to meet the players, and offered the opportunity to attend a Q&A with director of football, Micky Moore and head coach, Matt Taylor. Events like this create a closer connection to the club for fans and raises awareness of the work of the foundation.

We’ve continued to work with leading Shropshire businesses this year which have enabled us to meet more community needs. We’re so grateful to the organisations that have provided us with donations, supported us with sponsorship, as they are pivotal in helping us to achieve our mission at the foundation!

£12k+ Raised at the Dave Edwards Charity Match

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Player Appearances & Matchdays

We know that a football club means so much more than what happens on a matchday, and the foundation aims to create unique experiences where we can for fans to engage with the club they love. One way that we can connect fans is through player appearances.

Over the 22/23 season we aimed to engage with the first team on average of once per month by bringing them to a range of foundation sessions or community events. Whether it's a visit to a local school, a children’s hospice, or community

10

Local grassroots teams on average taking part in our matchday festivals

event, these appearances create a bridge between the club and its supporters, transcending the boundaries of the football field by inspiring the fans and connecting with the community on a personal level.

One of the highlights of this year was our annual visit to Hope House Children’s hospice where players met children and took part in their Christmas panto.

Players from both our men’s and women’s teams made regular visits to our Skills Centres and Soccer Schools, getting

6k+

Average matchday attendance at The Croud Meadow

involved in drills and giving the children an opportunity to find out more about what it takes to be a pro!

The foundation continue to play an active role in the matchday experience, from matchday festivals to coordinating mascot experiences.

We're proud to offer unique experiences for members of the community and create unforgettable memories that only Shrewsbury Town can provide.

53

First Team & Women's Team player appearances across the 22/23 season

45

SPECIAL

THANKS Without the support of our partners the work that we deliver would not be possible.

Thank you to all who continue to help us build a stronger community!

Football & Participation

Health & Wellbeing

Education & Employability

Coaching Manual

Shrewsbury Primary Care Network

SCL Education

Dam Strong

University of South Wales

Parkinsons UK

West Mercia Police

Nuffield Health Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund Shrewsbury Food Hub Shropshire Mental Health Support

Fundraising & Partnerships Budgen Shrewsbury

Funding Space

Shropshire Homes

Longmynd Travel

Reclaim Tax

PipeKit

Trek Shrewsbury

Throgmorton Associates

Welshpool Printing Group

Montgomery Waters

Shropshire Wills

Dyke Yaxley

Salop Leisure

Cyclone Sign & Print

GK MOT & Tacograph Centre

Darwin Centre

Hobsons Brewery

DMoS People

Tuffins

Reech Media

HSBC Shrewsbury