Oldham Athletic and the Community Trust continues to offer its support in the fight against COVID-19 through a variety of important initiatives during this incredibly difficult time.
The wellbeing and safety of our local community and the wider Latics family has been imbedded within the roots at Boundary Park for generations, so to raise awareness and support for those most vulnerable and in need during the current crisis, the 'We Are Oldham Together' initiative has been created internally.
It has multiple aims to help combat COVID-19 from helping members of society who are vulnerable or isolated, to working with numerous partner charities and organisations, including raising the awareness of the incredible work being done by our NHS heroes on the frontline.
Oldham Athletic and Oldham Athletic Community Trust, the club’s official charity, have been working together over the recent months to ensure that we support the community of Oldham during this time.
To date, we have:
- Collectively donated matchday food to the Oldham Foodbank to distribute to those most in need.
- Introduced the 'Food For Thought' initiative, which provides free fruit and vegetable boxes to those aged 70 and above living in the borough of Oldham.
- Continued to support our local schools in the form of weekly PE lesson plans and also the launch of interactive live lessons on Zoom based from Boundary Park itself in a secure classroom.
- Provided activity booklets for schools which can then be sent to children currently home learning.
- Promoted key government, EFL, mental health and national charity messages.
- Provided weekly challenges through Chaddy the Owl for the community to become involved at all ages.
- Pledged 1,000 Oldham Athletic matchday tickets to local good causes when football resumes once it is safe.
We continue to support our charity partners and when the time is right we will complete our fundraising initiatives that we had planned with Maggies, Homeless Friendly and Spoons.
In addition, staff at all levels have been directed to a dedicated resource to help with people’s mental health and are looking to actively volunteer where possible in neighbourhoods to help their local communities.
We are also committed that when the 2020/21 season commences, we will dedicate a game to our wonderful local emergency services, providing complimentary tickets to those that have worked tirelessly to keep us safe.
Martin Vose, OACT Head of Community, commented: "We have always been proud of the work we do within the local community, in partnership with the football club itself, but during this difficult time it was imperative that we worked differently to ensure that we can continue to provide as much support as possible to those in need.
"We hope through all of our initiatives and support work we will continue to make a positive difference across Oldham."
Natalie Atkinson, Managing Director, said: "The work in our community has always been something that the club can be proud of and we will continue to work hard to offer help to people, especially during this tough period.
"With the government now taking the first steps to bring us out of lockdown we will be working even more closely with the Community Trust and Martin's team to ensure we continue to help as many people as possible through this challenging time."