Waterford FC were revealed as runners up for this years European Football Development Network (EFDN) More than Football Awards in Leuven, Belgium, recently.
Despite Bristol City’s Robin’s Foundation secured this years award, our Autism Programme caught the eye of many over the course of the conference in Belgium, with our Head of Community Development Colin Power speaking at the conference about our initiatives & highlights across our autism programmes to date.
In Colin’s excellent presentation to the EFDN Conference, he explained how he reached out to local and national autism service agencies as well a local social group for parents of children with autism, to fully understand how Waterford FC could facilitate a positive matchday experience and provide football participation opportunities for these children.
Firstly, smooth access to the stadium was enabled via a specially designated entrance followed by the creation of a dedicated space in the stadium (the “quiet room”) to accommodate children if they needed “time out” from the game. The innovative approach was enhanced by recruiting a team of club autism ambassadors who are always available to assist the children and parents when they attend a game at the RSC.
To date, 46 families have used the Autism Friendly Matchday Experience (AFME) facilitating 48 children, many attending football for the first time. The excitement of attending matches created a desire to play football among the children and Waterford FC has now set up a regular “Football Friends” initiative where 25 children with autism regularly play football in a safe, inclusive environment. Attendance figures at the Football Friends programme have surpassed 800 over the past year!
We would like to give a special thanks to all our dedicated community ambassadors for their continued hard-work on a week-to-week basis for our club, showing once again that Waterford FC really is One Club, One Community!
