Community leadership and volunteers paint and tidy Nelson Football Club’s ground
A Lancashire football ground has been given a makeover thanks to the hard work of University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) students.
More than 30 volunteering and community leadership students spent the afternoon getting their hands dirty renovating Nelson Football Club’s Victoria Park.
The mixture of undergraduates and postgraduates tidied throughout the ground and gave a lick of paint to barriers and pitch side hoardings.
Senior lecturer Yasmeen Ali said: “Working with the community is a big part of the community leadership course here at UCLan Burnley, and what better way to allow our students to bond and help local community organisations. Nelson FC is a small organisation which recruits many sports volunteers but not many volunteers support with the maintenance of the grounds. It was great to be able to help the football club and I hope as a course we can contribute to supporting more similar organisations in the future.”
"The event was not only a great way to get to know our fellow peers and tutors. It has also filled us all with pride knowing that we had made a difference to the football ground, which will in time, be a great asset to the local community."
Donna Clough, a third year student, was among the group who tackled the physically tough work. She said: “The event was not only a great way to get to know our fellow peers and tutors. It has also filled us all with pride knowing that we had made a difference to the football ground, which will in time, be a great asset to the local community.”
Nelson FC was founded in 1881 and currently play in the North West Counties Football League.
Adam Keizer, the Club’s Chief Executive, added: “We are delighted that UCLan students volunteered their time to help the football club. We have very old facilities here at Little Wembley, which are run by a small team of people, so to have over 30 pairs of hands for the day was a massive help and a great way to get local young people involved with the football club. Hopefully this is the start of a community partnership for Nelson FC and I look forward to having our supporters down at the ground after the work has been done."
