First-team players Ben Nugent and Jack Hill paid a visit to The Milestone School in Longlevens last Friday, donating football boots and match tickets to players of the school's recently formed football teams.
The Milestone School is an outstanding school for pupils with special needs aged 2-16yrs based in Gloucester, who aim to remove obstacles and enable access to learning for each child through an individualised pupil-centred approach according to his or her needs.
They aim to develop life and independence skills to each child’s full potential in order to prepare them for adulthood, through providing personalised and appropriate support.
This season, Milestone Schools PE lead Joe Page has set up a 'Special School Football League' giving pupils with special educational needs the opportunity to compete against other schools, as part of a regular fixture list. Milestone have created two football teams within their school - giving over 24 pupils the opportunity to take part in matches throughout the academic year.
Milestone Schools PE lead Joe Page added:
"The Special School Football League gives our players the opportunity to engage with other pupils who share a passion for football. Already, the fixtures have had a hugely positive impact upon our pupils self esteem - creating a real sense of identity amongst our players within school."
In conjunction with the Gloucester City AFC Supporters Trust, Gloucester City AFC and it's supporters donated a collection of new/nearly-new football boots to The Milestone School and their newly formed football teams, with Ben Nugent and Jack Hill also handing out free tickets for this weekend's fixture against Farsley Celtic at the TigerTurf Stadium.
As well as visiting The Milestone School and donating football boots and tickets, we're looking to form a partnership moving forward with the school, alongside our already existing relationship with Goals Beyond Grass, with the teams using our facilities at the TigerTurf Stadium and both parties working together on projects in the future.
Here at Gloucester City AFC, we're committed to getting more involved with our local community to both spread awareness of the club and support diversity and inclusivity in sport, while giving back to our supporters and the surrounding area in general. For Saturday's game with Farsley, we've also given away tickets to pupils at local primary schools such as Coney Hill and Highnam.