Free football tournament for young people in Buckley

A group of young people from Buckley have organised a free five-a-side football tournament on Sunday 18 August to promote positive interaction in the town.

The group, led by Fixer Ashlea Jones, 19, hopes the event will promote respect and show not all young people are troublemakers.

With help from Fixers, a charity which supports young people to campaign on any issue they want, the group have organised the tournament for 15-21 year olds.

Eight teams will play 20 minute matches on a specially constructed football pitch in the town centre.

“Many young people in Buckley are concerned about the amount of people our age hanging around the streets, drinking alcohol and causing a nuisance giving all of us a bad name,” says Ashlea.

“By bringing young people together and giving them something to do, it gets them off the streets and allows other residents to see that young people are not all bad.

“We want it to be a friendly atmosphere so everyone gets along. Many groups of young people in the town are a little segregated, but we want to break that.”

There will be refreshments on the day and winners of the tournament will receive medals.

The event will be part of the ‘Blackpool comes to Buckley’ festival, organised by Buckley Town Council.

Teams need to register by Friday 16 August. Forms can be found on the Fixers website (www.fixers.org.uk/buckleyfootball). Or you can send your team name, contact name and number and player names to Sian Deal, 2 Padeswood Road, Buckley, Flintshire, CH7 2JL, sian@fixers.org.uk, or 07436 265905. All 15 year olds will need to provide a parental consent form. Places are limited and on a first come, first served basis.

Fixers is a charity which supports thousands of young people across the UK to take action and change things for the better, addressing any issue they feel strongly about.

How each Fixer tackles an issue is up to them - as long as they benefit someone else.

Fixers was set by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) in 2008 and has already supported 8,400 young people across the UK.

Now, thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund, Fixers aims to work with a further 19,000 young people over the next three years.

“Fixers started in 2008 as just an idea… an idea given a voice by 8,400 young people over the past five years,” says Margo Horsley, Chief Executive of PSBT.

“They have reached thousands of people with their work, on a national stage as well as in and around where they live. They choose the full array of social and health issues facing society today and set about making their mark. Fixers are always courageous and their ideas can be challenging and life-changing, not just for themselves.”

Peter Ainsworth, Big Lottery Fund UK Chair, said: “The Big Lottery Fund is extremely proud to be supporting Fixers to engage with more young people to change things for the better. Fixers has a tremendous potential – one young person’s initial idea can be transformed into reality, spread across a community and make a positive influence on a wide range of people. There are thousands of young people campaigning to make improvements in their neighbourhoods and Fixers provides a platform to highlight their voluntary work and many achievements.”

For images, interviews or more information, please contact Sue Meaden in the Fixers Communications Team by email sue@fixers.org.uk or phone 01962 810970.

There are lots more stories about young people doing great things on the Fixers website, Twitter and Facebook pages:
http://www.fixers.org.uk
http://www.twitter.com/FixersUK
http://www.facebook.com/FixersUK

Notes to editors:

• Fixers started in England in 2008. Now with a £7.2 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund, Fixers is extending into Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. To date, over 8,400 young people across the UK have become Fixers and created 1,000 projects.
• The Public Service Broadcasting Trust is a charity that brings together mainstream broadcasters, public and voluntary sector services, and viewers.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.