Crawley Town Community Foundation has launched a new project, supported by the Premier League Fans Fund.
The Premier League Fans Fund provides grants to support football clubs at all levels of the game to strengthen connections between them, their fans, and local communities.
The fund supports a range of fan-focused and fan-led projects, helping to foster a sense of belonging through meaningful engagement. This includes schemes for under-represented groups, to further develop an inclusive and welcoming matchday experience for everyone.
One Club – One Community will use the reach and appeal of Crawley Town FC to engage with underrepresented fan groups, as well as gaining an understanding of the existing fanbase and its demographics.
Darren Ford, Head of Crawley Town Community Foundation said, “We are excited to have received this funding to work with the Club and to engage with existing fans and underrepresented communities of Crawley. As a Foundation and a Club, it is important for us to further understand the demographics of the fans and the challenges underrepresented communities face and how we can support them.
Our aim is to support these communities to attend matches, through consultation and the development of activations, all of which helps to the develop a legacy and engage with those who are the Clubs future fans.
As we develop partnerships and relationships, we want to involve fans in expanding our fanbase, as well as being able to showcase the work of the Foundation which in 2023/24 provided £4.3 million of social value to the local community of Crawley through its range of programmes.”
We will be seeking to work with all fan groups and underrepresented communities, as your input is vital to the project and shaping greater levels of inclusion and accessibility here at the Club.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact darrenford@crawleytownfc.com
Open to 120 professional football club community organisations in the Premier League, English Football League, National League, Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship, the Premier League Fans Fund builds on the Premier League and clubs’ commitment to ensuring long-term engagement with supporters.
Premier League Director of Community, Nick Perchard, said: “Fans are the lifeblood of football and their commitment to, and involvement with, their local club is essential to the continued success of the game at every level.
“Through the Premier League Fans Fund we are investing in projects that will enhance connections between clubs and fans, whilst also delivering even more community impact. By supporting clubs across England and Wales, from both the men’s and women’s game, to develop projects that respond directly to the needs of their fans, we can help to ensure that football offers a fantastic experience for everyone.”
Premier League funding supports projects that respond to local need, and which aim to improve the match day environment for fans and/or residents, address fan behaviour, and community impact such as the cost-of-living crisis, build upon a club's heritage and engage and support underrepresented fan groups (disability, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, women and girls).
Delivery is often themed around tackling inequalities to create community cohesion, covering areas like equality, diversity, and inclusion, mental health and wellbeing, physical health and wellbeing, providing education and training opportunities, supporting employability, and/or sustainability.
Funding is flexible to empower professional football clubs, and their community organisations, to develop fan-focused and fan-led projects that respond directly to the needs of their local community.
The Premier League Fans Fund is administered through the Premier League Charitable Fund.
To find out more about the Premier League Fans Fund, please visit: www.premierleague.com/plcf or www.ctcommunityfoundation.com
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