Dan Aldridge

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. Football in England is not just a sport; it is a way of life. It binds communities together, gives local communities pride and provides opportunities both on and off the pitch, not least to my amazing nephews and my niece. In my constituency, Weston-super-Mare AFC—the Seagulls to its fans—is more than just a football club. It is a social hub, a youth development centre and a lifeline for many. The club charity, Seagulls in the Community, led by trustees Andrew Kynaston, Bridget Bolland and Oli Bliss, leads a wide range of projects that have a direct impact on the lives of people in the town, including a youth club, a disability football team, a dementia café, and a veterans breakfast to name a few. It also opened the doors to the FUCHSIA cancer support group after its previous venue closed. Julie Crowther has been running this group for over 14 years, but without the football club’s willingness to offer up its facilities free of charge, that much-needed community resource might have been forced to close. Football is for everyone, not just the elite. If we want our communities to thrive, we must act now to safeguard the entire football pyramid, so that clubs such as Weston-super-Mare AFC and thousands of others can continue to serve their communities for generations to come.