Blues Foundation Day set for 15th April!
Blues Foundation are delighted to announce that Bedford Blues’ home Championship fixture against Jersey Reds scheduled for Saturday 15th April will become the second designated Blues Foundation Charity Day.
Following on from the success of the Saracens Storm fixture back in September 2021, we are delighted to be given this wonderful opportunity again to highlight our charity’s work and fundraise towards our current and future work helping some of the most deprived wards in Bedford.
As well as the traditional bucket collections and raffles, we will be implementing a showcase of our charity’s activities including a series of inflatables on the training pitch at Goldington Road, as well as rugby skills masterclasses and many more activities announced closer to gameday.
Set to be the charity’s biggest fundraising day of the year, we are excited for the potential this day can bring as we try to spread the word about Blues Foundation to even more residents and Bedford supporters who might not yet have come across our work before.
Blues Foundation Manager, Tom Harwood: “The upcoming Foundation Day is an incredibly important event to help spread awareness of Blues Foundation’s life-changing work, as well as raising funds so we can continue to make a lasting change to people’s lives.
“We support some of the country’s most vulnerable people, those who need additional guidance, and children within mainstream schools. We help these young people to enjoy learning, re-engage with education, pass exams, find employment and improve their social and emotional wellbeing.”
PROGRAMME SUCCESSES (JANUARY 2023 – MARCH 2023):
· 1,200+ young people reached through our programmes between January to March.
· 5,500 throughout (number of unique visits to our sessions).
· 650 children attending our rugby delivery in schools.
· Girls rugby programme rolled out in secondary schools across Bedford Borough.
· Outreach programmes sees boost through Police and Crime Commissioner funding
SOME KEY STATISTICS OF OUR WORK SINCE LAUNCHING AS A CHARITY INCLUDES:
· Over 7000+ hours of physical activity delivered since July 2020
· Over 40,000 items donated to Bedford Foodbank in the past three years
· Over 5,500 meals delivered to vulnerable families and individuals
· Multiple flagship projects including Tackle LIFE & ABILITY Blues launched and piloted
· Partnerships developed with Bedford Borough Council and Bedfordshire Police, supporting young people at risk of offending
· Relationship built with Bedford College to deliver well-being and activity packages
· Over 700 children aged 5 – 15 engaged with as part of our Summer Holiday Programmes
· More families encouraged to exercise as part of our Families Fund Project
· Bespoke physical activity project for Penrose Housing targeting the promotion of positive mental and physical health
We are extremely proud of the impact we have already been able to make across Bedfordshire and are excited to build further key relationships and projects to directly influence the lives of as many people as possible in our county. You can play a huge part in helping our charity to flourish, and alongside the chance to join our CHAMPION scheme, there are many more ways you can have your own impact at Saturday’s game.
We are looking for volunteers to help us carry out our festivities on match day, including a whole host of fun activities as well as helping collecting funds for our charity.
With numerous prizes to be won, our first ever Blues fundraising home match is set to be a thriller! Think you can help? Contact Foundation Manager, Tom Harwood on tom@bluesfoundation.org.uk and help us continue our impact across Bedfordshire.
If you can’t make it to the game, don’t worry, you can still show your support. You can send us a one-off donation just by clicking here and stay up to date by hearing the impact of your generosity by subscribing to our newsletter here.
You can also stay up to date with our Goldington Road activities through social media. You can find Blues Foundation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We look forward to seeing you all next month!