Tranmere Rovers in the Community was established as a one-man team by Steve Williams in the late 1980s – initially focusing on the use of football and other ancillary sporting activities as educational tools.
Since then, the community department has developed into a registered charity in its own right and now engages with thousands of people across the Wirral peninsula and beyond each year.
Working across three core themes of Health and Wellbeing, Enhancing Lives, and Citizenship – the community team’s work has expanded from coaching in schools to a wide range of innovative projects covering all ages and abilities.
Tranmere Rovers in the Community has developed a particularly positive reputation across the local area for providing support and activities for those with a variety of physical and mental disabilities. Based in one of the most socially deprived areas in the country, the community work offers so much more than sporting activities and goes as far as providing a safe place and support for a variety of people.
The charity is based at Tranmere Rovers Recreation Centre at Prenton Park, and although the team visit many schools and colleges across the Wirral, they also run a large number of our sessions from the Recreation Centre where more than 300 participants a week visit.
Listed below are some examples from the past year highlighting just some of the most successful projects Tranmere Rovers in the Community has delivered.
Health and Wellbeing
- Active Rovers – Active Rovers is a programme funded by the NHS to encourage men over 40 to keep fit and healthy. Our session is an hour long and invites men of all ability to come along and play football in a fun and safe environment with likeminded people.
- Wildcats Girls' Football – Our Wildcats Girls' Football sessions are open to girls aged four to 16 who play for a local team and would like some extra training as well as girls who are taking their firsts steps in the game. The sessions are designed to inspire girls to play football by improving their skills and discipline. We aim for these sessions to be fun and informative, so the girls can take what they have learnt on a week to week basis and apply it to a game. For the girls who do not play for a local team, we work on building up their confidence and skills, so they feel comfortable in a game session and can progress onto a local team if they wish to.
- Disability Football – Our Adult Ability Counts team is registered with the Cheshire FA and play monthly fixtures against other disability teams in the area.
Enhancing Lives
- Dementia-friendly afternoon – Here at Tranmere Rovers In The Community we hold weekly dementia support sessions for anyone who suffers from dementia, their carers and anyone who has been affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s. These sessions consist of tea, cake, quizzes, chair dance, football to our monthly bingo games. The team offer a supportive environment for other carers to meet and to relieve the pressure of looking after a partner full-time.
Citizenship
- Premier League Primary Stars – Premier League Primary Stars is an education programme designed to use the appeal of professional football clubs to inspire girls and boys aged 5-11 in the classroom, the playground and on the sports field.
Tranmere Rovers in the Community is set to expand over the coming years, starting with the renovation and expansion of the Recreation Centre adjoined to Prenton Park.