Double kit delight thanks to latest Uppermill FC community initiative

Uppermill Football Club are at it again with their Uppermill in the Community (UITC) initiative - the club’s way of putting something back into the local and wider community of Saddleworth and Oldham.

Hot on the heels of their successful Christmas Appeal, which saw £1,500 raised and distributed to children in need in the Borough, Uppermill FC have donated two brand new sets of football kits to help local children in their sporting efforts.

The first of the kits will go to Oasis Academy Limeside, a primary school in the Hollinwood area.

Uppermill FC CEO, Steve Southern, told the Chronicle: “It’s a bit of a curious tale, but one of our supporters, local businessman Chris Dummett, won a competition with his energy supplier, Octopus, for a new football kit. 

"Chris then donated the kit to Uppermill FC.

"As we had recently replaced our junior team kits for all our junior teams, we agreed with Chris that it might be better used in being donated to a school in Oldham in need of a new kit. 

"Using our community connections, we then spoke with Oasis primary school in Hollinwood and they said that their children would be thrilled to have a brand new kit.

"So, as part of our UITC efforts, we were delighted to hand the kit over to Oasis.”

The second kit will go to Saddleworth School, specifically for their girls football team (pictured above). 

The idea for this came from Chris Duckworth, the Chair of the Junior Section of Uppermill FC. 

Chris said: “Among the many things we are trying to achieve at the club, high on our list is to create the opportunity for girls to play football. 

"Whilst we have girls playing in our junior teams, we really would like to have a specific focus on creating girls (and women’s) teams.   

"So, when we read that Saddleworth School had put out a plea for a sponsor to provide a new kit for their girls team, we thought that this was the perfect opportunity for us to both extend our Uppermill in the Community efforts and to take positive action to help provide the opportunity for local girls to play football. 

"We spoke to our kit designers, Hope and Glory, and they were really helpful in designing a unique kit for the school.

"We are delighted to extend our links with Saddleworth School and we hope the girls enjoy wearing their new kit.”

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