As sponsors of Bristol Rovers Womens’ FC we were absolutely delighted to learn that Bristol Rovers Community Trust have been recognised as the ‘Best Community Football Development Initiative’ at this year’s FA Women’s Football Awards for the launch of the new Bristol Rovers Women’s team and for their work in the community.
The FA Women’s and Girls’ Football Participation Awards recognise the achievement of clubs, players, staff and the important work done by volunteers at the grassroots level of the game.
The announcement of the award was made via a surprise video call from England and Chelsea forward Fran Kirby, to Bristol Rovers Women’s Co-Founder, Matthew Davies which was then released on the Lionesses twitter page yesterday.
Since the launch of the ‘Gas Girls’ project, the Community Trust have seen a dramatic increase in participation figures across the free football sessions that they host during term-time and a huge rise in applications for the BTEC programme that gives girl’s the opportunity to take their first steps into working within the sports industry.
Community Trust CEO, Adam Tutton, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that we’ve won this Nationally recognised award. Our success is down to a passionate, hardworking team and their dedication and belief in what they do and what they’re hoping to achieve. Without the support of our participants, partners, sponsors, fans and the directors at the football club, we wouldn’t have been able to make the impact that we have for women and girls in our community over the last 12 months.”
Bristol Rovers Co-Founder, Matthew Davies, said: “Considering Bristol Rovers Women’s has only been fully operational for just over a year, I think we are all really surprised to receive this award but obviously delighted. The ‘Gas Girls’ programme focuses on community, education, participation and performance and this model will enable us to grow and develop further in the coming years. The whole team is really excited by what the future holds, and I feel that we’ve only scratched the surface of our potential.”
The Gas Girls were just one win away from winning their Gloucestershire County Women’s League before the season was declared null & void due to the Coronavirus outbreak, with the Development side also topping their league. The new season is scheduled to kick-oo on the 20th September albeit behind closed doors.