By Nina Miller
We are delighted to announce that Aldershot Town FC's partner initiative, the Shots Foundation, has joined Sport Local Action.
SLA's journalist Nina Miller, recently spoke to Chair of trustees, Sir John Casey, who explained to her why he's excited for Shots to join forces with SLA.
Sir Casey saw Shots’ desire to make a difference in their local community paralleled by SLA, and wanted to be part of something larger, where the foundation could share what they do with others, and learn from fellow members of SLA.
The Shots Foundation is the result of a Football Club that situates itself firmly within its local community. Bridging the gap between club and community, Shots does a huge amount of work locally: free match tickets and a seat in the community stand for those who need; the opportunity to meet Aldershot FC’s players; and for the most avid Aldershot enthusiasts, a wealth of sports related pastimes are available in their dedicated “Fanzone”.
What’s on offer extends far past the realm of football. Aldershot is known as home of the British army, and the Shots foundation holds a regular veteran’s hub, aiming to combat isolation in the veteran community. The foundation is guided by a genuine desire to do good in the town it operates in, and one look at the board of trustees will tell you that this is as much a foundation of Aldershot as it is for Aldershot. Shots understands football as being one of many ways people connect with each other, and in Sir Casey's own words, football has a unique capacity to engage all people, irrespective of who you are.
What really sets Shots apart is their determination to include everyone in their vision. Since the start of last year, Shots have been holding football practises for players with visual impairments – in addition to the practise, these sessions are a social event – Shots puts community connection at the heart of what it does, and its Sight Loss Soccer sessions are no exception. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the foundation works so hard to include disabled community members, following in the footsteps of former headteacher, Sir Casey, who has strived to include children with autism in educational settings. In addition to the work it does with Aldershot’s disabled community, the foundation is committed to encouraging older people’s involvement in football. Aptly titled “Oldershots”, Shots runs several sessions per week of Walking Football, a less strenuous alternative to football, for people over 50. Oldershots have recently enjoyed a major victory in the European Spanish Masters tournament and earned themselves the “Cuchara De Madera” trophy, somewhat humorously translating to the “wooden spoon” trophy.
When asked about the motivation behind working with such a large range of ages, Sir Casey's answer was simple: the Shots Foundation works with all sections of the community. This seems to be the message that rings clearest – what they do is just as important as who they do it with. The sheer variety of what’s on offer is testament to this – there is quite literally, something for everyone.
The work Shots does appears to be guided by two aims: the desire to improve the lives of local people, and an unwavering determination to have fun. Perhaps it’s no surprise that walking football is a personal favourite of Sir Casey’s, who described it as like being on the playground again.
Looking to the future, Shots want to expand on the work they do now, but are cautious of making big promises. They live and operate by the motto, keep it simple but do it excellently.
Sport Local Action welcomes the Shots Foundation, and looks forward to working together to build better communities enriched through sport.