Fleetwood Town Community Trust Awarded Premier League and PFA Players’ Fund Grant to Deliver a Community Engagement Programme

New 12-month programme titled “Fleetwood: Past, Present and Onward Together” will bring Fleetwood Town players together with vulnerable groups across the community to celebrate building a brighter future.

The Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have awarded funding to the Fleetwood Town Community Trust. The programme is designed to strengthen the connections between Fleetwood Town players, the football club, and local communities facing social and health inequalities, using the town’s rich heritage and ambitious future as a powerful vehicle for positive change.

The programme will be delivered through a structured, two-phase model, and it will engage with three key groups across the town:

• Individuals living with dementia, in partnership with Healthier Fleetwood and the Former Players’ Association (FPA)
• Adults living with additional needs, in partnership with One Fylde
• Pupils across 10 local schools

Through regular, meaningful interaction with Fleetwood Town players, the programme aims to support some of the town’s most vulnerable people, to reduce isolation, improve wellbeing, and raise aspirations among young people. The Trust believes this programme will empower both participants and players to play an active role in the town’s ongoing regeneration. “We are incredibly proud to be delivering this programme in partnership with the Premier League and PFA Players’ Fund. It brings Fleetwood’s players and community closer together, supports those who need it most, and celebrates everything that makes this town special. This programme will use the power of football to make a real, lasting difference to people’s lives across Fleetwood,” said Tom Hutton, CEO of Fleetwood Town Community Trust.

The programme’s key objectives are to:

1. Strengthen community-club-player connections through regular, meaningful engagement with Fleetwood Town players
2. Improve health and wellbeing, particularly for vulnerable groups at risk of isolation, including those living with dementia and additional needs
3. Raise aspirations among young people by connecting them with positive role models and local identity
4. Develop players’ social responsibility and leadership, empowering them to act as ambassadors within the community
5. Celebrate Fleetwood’s heritage and future by creating legacy videos narrated by a poet, fostering pride of place and a collective sense of identity

“We’re thrilled to support Fleetwood: Past, Present and Onward Together through the Premier League and Professional Footballers’ Association Players’ Fund. The project is a brilliant example of how football can bring people together and connect players with their fans and communities. Through this work, Fleetwood Town Community Trust will help improve health and wellbeing for some of the most vulnerable people in their local community, and we’re really excited to see how the project develops and the impact it has over the next 12 months,” said Alex White, Premier League Foundation Chief Executive.

For more information about Fleetwood Town Community Trust and its programmes, please contact community@fleetwoodtownfcct.com