It was an action packed half-term for Oldham Athletic Community Trust (OACT), with a multitude of activity happening across Oldham.
Holiday Clubs
For the first time OACT held holiday activity at sites across Oldham, in addition to the main hub site with Oldham Futsal Arena, clubs were held at five different school sites across the five days.
OACT school partners Westwood Academy, St. Paul's Primary, Willowpark Academy, Royton Hall Primary and Hey With Zion all hosted free holiday clubs for their pupils, in conjunction with the Trust’s schools programme delivery.
Jonathan Bell, Westwood Academy Executive Principal said: “Westwood Academy were delighted to become a partner school of the Oldham Athletic Community Trust.
"The OACT staff were able to offer holiday clubs and other exciting opportunities that our children and families sometimes struggle to access.
"Their core values support our work towards pupils achieving The Harmony Trust Pledge and the sessions in school teach children how to be healthy in a fun and interesting way.
"I'd recommend OACT and becoming a partner school to all Headteachers and P.E leads."
In addition, to the school site delivery, close to 100 children attended the provision at Oldham Futsal Arena where they were treated to a variety of different activities and sports throughout the week.
There was a surprise visit from Oldham Athletic players Tom Hamer and Johan Branger-Engone. The visit gave the children an opportunity to meet professional footballers, as the pair tried their hand at management at the holiday club and presented children with tickets for the Oldham Athletic vs. Stevenage fixture this weekend.
Premier League Kicks
During the week there was also an opportunity for participants from the PL Kicks project to participate in activity, as a group of participants travelled to Blackburn to take part in a multi-club tournament.
In addition to Oldham Athletic, there was representatives from Blackburn Rovers, Accrington Stanley and Blackpool FC's community schemes. For many of the squad it was their first opportunity to leave Oldham as they took part in the event, they then left tournament earning seven points from a possible nine.
Participants from the OACT mini kicks sessions were also provided with a competitive opportunity, as they took part in a inter-club friendly. Young footballers from the Monday evening (Honeywell Centre) and Saturday morning sessions (PCC) played their first ever games representing Oldham Athletic, this will be the first of many opportunities for them to take part in such events.
Martin Vose, OACT Head of Community commented: "These two events were a perfect example of how we work to provide opportunities across our project delivery.
"The impact of being provided with an Oldham Athletic match kit to wear and representing the football club in competition is huge for these young people.
"From speaking to them we have certainly made memories for life, with these opportunities just the start of more to come."
Player Visits
Alongside the visit from Tom Hamer and Johan Branger-Engone, there were another two player visits during the week.
OACT competition winner Alex Bardsley met Peter Clarke, Jamie Stott and his favourite player Callum Lang.
Recently OACT held a competition which asked junior supporters to draw a picture of their favourite player, Alex’s effort was picked out as the winning entry and as a result was invited down to meet the players after training.
Then, Mohamed Maouche and Mohamed Sylla visited Jalalabad Jamey Masjid (mosque) to meet members of the local community, with the event ran in partnership with local grassroots football club Red Star Bengal (main picture).
The visit was part of the on-going work of the OACT Diverse Communities Co-ordinator, Abul Khayr.