Community Outreach Report 2023-24
A new season begins, and with it, comes a fresh optimism for both on and off-the-pitch success for CUAFC. A large exodus of players last year has meant that no squad has remained the same this year. Nevertheless. off the field, our outreach efforts have maintained remarkable consistency with last year's men’s representative Jake Barker now being joined by women’s representative Coraline Hunt. Read on to hear from Jake Barker about CUAFC’s outreach efforts this year, and the club’s future outreach ambitions.
CUAFC members at the CUCT Sleepout
The 2023/24 season kicked off with the Powerhouse Games. In stark contrast to last year, when Torres, Pauline and I scrambled to enlist 24 players the night before, this year saw over 40 sign-ups, prompting us to close the registration form two weeks prior to the event. Our fundraising efforts have been equally successful. Participating in the Cambridge United Community Trust (CUCT) Abbey Stadium sleepout, CUAFC raised over £3,000, contributing to a combined total of more than £41,000 for CUCT and Wintercomfort. This marks a significant cultural shift within the club towards increased outreach.
Our outreach success is in part due to the dedicated efforts of our excellent committee this year, whose commitment to the cause has been unwavering. While it can sometimes feel like a solo effort, our outreach and charity initiatives truly depend on collaboration across the club. This was exemplified at our marquee event, the CUAFC OLLiE Foundation quiz night. OLLiE (One Life Lost is Enough) is a vital charity dedicated to delivering suicide awareness, intervention and prevention training. The quiz night and raffle, kindly supported with donations from local businesses, raised over £540 for the charity, furthering OLLiE's mission and demonstrating our club's commitment to societal betterment. In addition, in collaboration with CUAFC welfare officers Patrick, Dani and Louisa we were fortunate to receive training by OLLiE on suicide awareness and prevention. It fills me with immense pride to recognize that our club is not only achieving its immediate outreach goals but is also cultivating a lasting culture of outreach. In this culture, outreach is not merely an optional activity; it's an integral and expected part of our identity. By directing our focus towards the newer and fresher members, we've successfully embedded this ethos from the outset. This approach guarantees the sustainability and growth of our outreach initiatives well into the future. Such a legacy of commitment and community engagement is what our CUAFC players will be remembered for.
CUAFC Players Running Sports Activities at the Powerhouse Games
Looking forward, our ambition is to elevate the Blues Varsity match to a focal point for outreach activities. This is, in part, facilitated by our new strategic partnership with Cambridge United Football Club, with Abbey Stadium hosting Varsity this year. CUAFC is to harness the power of football to encourage more prospective students from deprived backgrounds both in Cambridgeshire and around the country to apply to the University of Cambridge. Currently, our outreach is constrained by our reliance on club members' goodwill and is geographically limited to Cambridge. We eagerly seek to expand this reach and welcome any alumni with ideas or resources to support our endeavours. Should you wish to get involved, please contact us at community.outreach.cuafc@gmail.com.
