THE NUTS & BOLTS HAVE IT COVERED

ASHFORD United are putting disability football at the heart of its community outreach with vital funding helping the club expand their offering.

The Pitching In Isthmian League Division One South East side initially launched their disability programme two years ago after a plea from a parent, and it has gone from strength to strength since. The Nuts & Bolts recently used grant funding from the Trident Community Foundation to buy equipment for their burgeoning number of teams and club fixture secretary Tracey Corps is confident there is still more growth to come.

“We were approached by a dad who wanted to set up a disability team for his son because some children with disabilities don’t get into mainstream teams,” she explained.

“We have been inundated with parents wanting to bring their children.

“Last season we had two teams and this season we have five youth teams, so the funding has gone towards helping buy equipment and paying coaches to meet their needs.

“We were able to buy moveable goals, younger teams have different-sized goals, and things like bibs and cones.

“You can see their confidence, they just love coming. You can hear them running up from the car park to the pitch. “Hopefully, we are going to continue to expand. The need is out there to help all children with disabilities.

“We have got a ladies’ section and a girls’ section as well, so we try to include everybody within the club.”

The Trident Community Foundation offers funding for community projects undertaken by clubs at Steps 3 and 4 of the Non-League pyramid.

Since the Foundation was established in December 2020, more than £430,000 has been awarded to 84 clubs in the seventh and eighth tiers.

Community is very much the focus for Ashford, with Corps, who has volunteered at the club for 13 years, hailing the way the club has become more and more involved with making positive changes in the Kent town.

She added: “Our disability team were mascots for the first team last season, they walked out with the players and were in the programme. They loved that. “Everything we do is volunteer run, and they are so important. If it wasn’t for the volunteers we wouldn’t be able to run as a club. “You are amongst the community, everyone gets involved and it just becomes a part of life.”