The programme notes from Talk of the Town
This piece was written by the head of the Hatters Community Trust, Kevin Thoburn, for the Talk of the Town programme against Carlisle United.Hatters Trust voted Luton’s Best 2016
Luton Town FC Community Trust staff attended the prestigious Luton’s Best Awards 2016 last week to receive an award recognising community achievement having been voted winners in the Leisure and Culture category.
The Love Luton event held at Luton Hoo recognised the Trust’s work over the last year which has seen the numbers of participants rise to over 3,000 every week in all of the community projects operated by the Trust.
From free schools PE coaching to regional talent identification development centres for young players, from promoting the women’s and girls’ game to running adult disability football teams, the award recognised the wide range of projects that have made an impact on the leisure and cultural community landscape in Luton.
Head of Trust, Kevin Thoburn, commented: “The award recognises all of the hard work our growing team of dedicated coaches and educational staff have put in this year and just how much the Trust has grown in the last couple of years.
“It’s a recognition of how important the people of Luton feel about the position our football club occupies right at the heart of the many local communities that, combined, make Luton the great place it is today.”
Is your mate off his game? Go Lead Go Stress Free adult courses available
Did you know that every year one in four of us will experience a mental health problem? It may feel like the last thing you want to talk about, but the fact is that feeling stressed out is pretty common – it’s bottling it up that causes the problem!
Well, the Hatters Trust have teamed up with Luton Adult Learning again to come up with courses that we hope will help people better self-manage their mental health symptoms. What are the symptoms?
Pretty common you’ll find – poor sleeping patterns, mood swings, difficulty in finding and keeping work, and generally finding it stressful just dealing with everyday life, and perhaps even becoming more isolated, are all sure signs of mental health problems.
Our Go Lead Go Stress Free courses are six-week sports courses specifically designed to support adults in how to develop and use leadership skills in day-to-day situations.
Football, Learning and Sports courses involving playing and relaxing through a combination of five-a-sides and classroom based subjects such as communication, what is a leader, working with others as well as putting it all into practise through improvising techniques.
Put simply, imagine what Nathan Jones has to go through during a game, and imagine how he copes with all of that stress and how he manages to deal with everything that happens unexpectedly during the game, and how he puts into practice his strategies to deal with the unexpected events in this afternoon’s game – coping with life and stress is very similar.
If this is sounding familiar, then our courses could be for you. Give us a call at the community offices on 01582 737568 or email community@lutontown.co.uk for further information. Courses will be running from next month.
Zak meets England Manager Gareth Southgate
Little did Trust employee Zak Tafarder know when he met Gareth Southgate back in August at Kenilworth Road that he would be literally rubbing shoulders with the new England manager.
Gareth was running the rule over a number of U21 England internationals including our own Christian Walton at the game against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup, and took time out to say hello to Zak who not only works in the Trust offices each day, but also plays for our adult disability team during the season.
Everyone at the Trust (and the Club) would like to congratulate Gareth on his recent full-time appointment and wish him all the best in his new role.
Home alone Hatter this Christmas?
There are almost 80,000 households in Luton and did you know that almost a quarter of them are occupied by a single person. Out of a total population of 200,000 it means that ten per cent, or 20,000 ‘home aloners’, live in the town with almost 7,000 of them over the age of 65.
Of course, many will choose to live alone but many will not and may not have family close by, or indeed have no family at all. So if you feel alone, you aren’t – there are 20,000 of you. Imagine that as a home gate today!
At Luton Town FC we don’t want any of our supporters to be ‘home alone’ this Christmas and if you are reading this (or know of anyone) and you will be on your own this Christmas and would like a bit of company with your turkey, then we have listed below three of our local churches who will be providing lunch on the 25th December for anyone on their own.
Hope Church Centre - please contact Sarah Hibbard on sarah.hopechurch@gmail.com
St Martin de Porres Church - please contact Mary on 01582 754850 or 07866 989254
High Town Methodist Church – please contact Maureen on 01582 547228 or 07931 609064 or by email on Maureen.drummond@luton.gov.uk
All three centres are offering lots of fun, laughter, good company and the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. Some are offering free transport and some asking for a small donation of £5.00 for lunch. If you’re not sure which one to attend start with a call or an email to Maureen Drummond at the Town Hall.
Don’t forget we also have a social club here at the Stadium every Wednesday morning between 10am and midday if you feel like a bit of company. Please give Kay a call at the community office if you would like to come along on 01582 737568. Everyone welcome for cakes and dominoes!
Merry Christmas!