FURD
Thousands of people defied the damp grey weather to turn out for Community Day on Sunday 14th May to show their support for Football Unites, Racism Divides. We teamed up with Sheffield United to welcome the local community to the Premiership club’s Bramall Lane stadium with a mixture of football and non-football related entertainment.
Over 150 young people got the rare chance to display their football skills on the pitch in 6-a-side tournaments at under-12 boys and girls, under-14 boys and under-17 boys level. The finale of the day was an 11-a-side ‘local derby’ match between Sharrow Athletic and Sharrow United for the Community Cup. Football Unites has worked closely with both teams over the last few years. The match culminated in a 2-1 victory for Sharrow Athletic – the first time they’ve won the trophy. Meanwhile, a 3-a-side Streetkick tournament for Dads run by Surestart was won by Burngreave.
Aside from the football, entertainment included bouncy castles, face painting, henna painting, a clown, kite making, Bollywood dancing, boxing with boxers from Brendan Ingle’s world champion making gym, stalls and displays, and Asian, Japanese and African-Caribbean food.
The day was provided by a team of Sheffield United staff, Football Unites staff and voluntary workers, including young volunteers from the Football Unites Millennium Volunteers scheme who provided valuable help with DJing, stewarding, managing the pitches, setting up stalls and clearing up afterwards.