Bellway supports football school giving youngsters in rural Durham a chance to play the beautiful game

A football school which provides sporting opportunities for youngsters in rural County Durham has received a donation of much-needed equipment from local housebuilder Bellway.

H Football School & Coaching was founded two years ago by Wolsingham resident and UEFA qualified coach Jason Howe to give local children the chance to play the beautiful game.

More than 70 boys and girls now attend the weekly training sessions, which take place every Friday night on the floodlit 3G pitch at Wolsingham Leisure Centre. The sessions are divided into three age groups, with sections for those aged 5 to 7, 8 to 10, and 11 to 14.

As the sessions continue to grow in popularity, so too does the need for new equipment such as footballs and goalposts to enable as many children as possible to take part. Jason approached Bellway, which is building homes at The Old Foundry development in the village, to see if they could help.

The housebuilder has provided almost £500 worth of supplies, including 40 footballs, four foam balls and four mini-goals for the 5 to 7 age group.

Jason said: “We work within a small budget so having these supplies is going to be a massive help. Equipment comes at such a cost and the balls we have do take a beating. We also needed more mini-goals as we have smaller games on smaller pitches to keep all the kids involved. We have been using cones which serve a purpose but if you ask a child if they prefer scoring between a set of cones or into a goal with a net, they’d say into a goal every time.

“It was great when Bellway came back to us and said they would like to help. I hope they realise how much it means to the kids.”

Jason started running the sessions to help address the lack of opportunities for local children to play organised sport.

He said: “It all came about a couple of years ago when my son wanted to join a football team. One of the closest was about 12 miles away in Consett. He joined a team which was about to fold and I took that team on and realised that where we live in the rural part of Durham there was nothing for the kids.

“We do try and instil an attitude of teamwork and respect but it’s not an elitist environment and we are totally inclusive. The three main things are for the children to have fun, make friends and play football – all while getting exercise, developing important life skills and building confidence.

“The response from parents has been incredibly positive. They have told us how much their children have enjoyed it and how much they have progressed. It’s having a massive benefit to their health and wellbeing. We even have children travel from as far as Upper Weardale and Cumbria which is amazing.”

Frank Lincoln, Managing Director of Bellway Durham, said: “JH Football School & Coaching provides an invaluable service to children living in Wolsingham and the surrounding villages and the growing popularity of the sessions demonstrates the strong appetite which exists among local youngsters to play the game. As part of our commitment to supporting the local community, we are pleased to make this donation of equipment which will help Jason and his team of coaches to provide opportunities for more young people to get involved in sport, make friends and develop important life skills.”

Bellway is building 120 homes at The Old Foundry, on the former Weardale Steelworks site off Durham Road. As part of the planning agreement for the development, Bellway is investing £234,000 in local infrastructure, including a £224,000 open space contribution to maintain play and recreation space in the area.

For more information about the development, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/durham/the-old-foundry or call the sales team on 01388 300346.

To find out more about JH Football School & Coaching, go to https://www.jhfootball.co.uk/.