Football in the Community Officer Stuart Jacobs (pictured) has been in charge of the scheme for eight months and is now able to start putting his own stamp on this popular area of the Club.

"When I took over in January, the scheme was somewhat in need of a face-lift from both a practical and financial perspective," he said. "My first aim was to focus in more detail upon our core projects, which included our In-school and After-school activities. With further staff resources, we increased our number of In-School activities as well as increasing our After School numbers to over 35 schools. In comparison Chelsea boast 50 after school clubs and this is a target I hope to achieve and increase upon by the end of 2004."

The success of the scheme in this area boosted their financial position, and they also receive tremendous support from both Network Rail and Sportsmatch.  This has allowed Jacobs to focus beyond the scheme's core projects and include developmental projects such as education, free in school training, teacher support, teaching children important social issues such as Drug Awareness, Fire safety and First Aid.

However, although these projects are in the pipeline and point to a new and exciting era for the scheme, Jacobs and his team of coaches are looking for additional support from local companies.

"Financial support from local companies will allow us resources to recruit new staff and provide a service that is affordable and - with some projects - provide a free service to children and schools across Cambridgeshire," Jacobs explained. "In the past we have tried to provide as much free coaching as possible, but we attempted this on a very small budget, which we inevitably exceeded upon thus leading to financial difficulty throughout 2002.

"With improved management and further staff recruitment, we are now looking to continue our progress and raise a sufficient budget that can provide schools across Cambridge with much needed qualified football coaching.

"In partnership with these schools, and with support from the club, we also have the materials and experience to increase funding for the schools, thus enabling us to give money back to the schools."


David Bridges Helps Out With Some Coaching

The first visible step in this direction is a new 'sponsor a coach' scheme, which appeared in Tuesday's match day programme against Gillingham.

"As a self-funding partnership with the P.F.A we desperately need the support of our local businesses small and big to help us pursue our aim of providing football for the whole community," Jacobs continued.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jon Favorulo, manager of GF Mens Room, Fulbourn for his continued support."

There are a number of sponsorship opportunities so if you are interested in finding out more please call on 01223 416238.