Success for Club Doncaster Foundation’s Community Day

The sun was shining and the atmosphere was buzzing ahead of the early kick off for last weekend’s Doncaster Rovers fixture v AFC Wimbledon, with plenty of activities available for fans to get involved with.

Those in attendance at the game got the chance to get involved in a range of free activities hosted by the Foundation, based around the footprint of the stadium, in the lead up to kick off. 

The community day initiative, is just one way we're able to promote our #Rovers4All approach and campains, an initative that we are able to deliver by our engagement with the Premier League Fans Fund. Across our season, this campaing is helping us work with fans and our local community to ensure we maximise the amount of people that are accessing our programmes and our match-days. 

Staff members from each department within the charity, were on hand to speak with fans about the variety of work that takes place on a daily basis within the community, with some of the activities giving a more specific insight into programmes and projects. 

From youth activities outside the family stand, military vehicles and information on Fit Forces and the army, professional boxers on show, food bank and football boot donation station with the support of the DRFC Shadow Board and the Viking Supporters Club, health checks, to facility tours and state-of-the-art equipment demonstrations with Club Doncaster Sports College and University Campus Doncaster, there were plenty of activities for everyone to get involved with.

For the first time, the Foundation logo was featured on the front of shirt for the fixture, with a specially released shirt by Elite Pro Sports, linking back to when the Foundation was first set up, aligning to the history, with the charity receiving £5 for every shirt sold. 

The Foundation’s Women & Girls Ambassador, Terri Harper, WBO Women’s Lightweight Champion attended the day, where she took part in an open workout session alongside other boxers ahead of the world championship boxing event this May. Terri was presented with her own Foundation shirt, printed with her name, by members of the Fit Forces group, on the day. 

Representatives from a numerous programmes created a guard of honour to welcome both teams onto the pitch for kick-off, all wearing their t-shirts from their projects.

The charity showcased the record breaking year, through the impact report video at half time, having worked with a record number of 15,388 participants, where fans could hear first hand, the impact the work delivered, has on numerous people’s lives across the city. 

Foundation CEO, John Davis spoke of the success of the day: “We are so thankful to everyone involved in putting this community day together and for our project partners, the Premier League Charitable Fund for giving us the opportunity to spread the #Rovers4All messages about our work. 

“Seeing so many fans come out and support us, purchasing the shirt, and getting involved in the activities around the ground is exactly why we put days like this on. 

“We're able to put events like this on due to the ongoing support of the club for giving us the opportunities and the Premier League Fans Fund for giving us the resources to continue this fan engagement work.”

A huge thankyou to all the staff, volunteers, partners, ambassadors and most importantly, the fans, for the continuous support on the day, helping us put this day together and getting involved with all the activities.

You can find out more about the fantastic work the Foundation does, by signing up to our newsletter, here.