Staff and students from Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy (OSCA) are preparing for a 16 mile walk to show their commitment to community sport.
The Oldbury school is hosting the fundraising walk on Tuesday 25 June as part of their application to the Football Foundation for a brand-new 3G football pitch, which will encourage students and the community to pursue their passion for sports.
The dedicated sports fans will be walking from their school to academies across the trust, including Wodensborough Ormiston Academy, Ormiston Forge Academy and George Salter Academy, with a welcome party at each stop to raise awareness of the benefits of the state-of-the-art installation for the whole community.
As part of their fundraising efforts, students will also be litter picking at local businesses to give back to the community and local area.
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The academy is applying for support from the Football Foundation to transform the old, sand-based pitch currently on site to build brand new facilities with the latest sporting technologies, helping more students access a wider variety of high-quality sporting activities.
As part of the academy’s investment into creating sporting opportunities for the local area, the pitch would be a much-needed resource to help foster local football clubs, helping them to provide a range of football development and wider community activities.
Alongside this, local football teams are hoping the project will help more girls and women, people with a disability, or older residents across Oldbury to have access to high quality football provision in a safe, supportive, and enjoyable setting.
Once and up and running, the pitch will be available for hire by the public, encouraging all those interested in a friendly match or levelling up their training to use the new facilities.
The academy is asking for local businesses on the walking route, or anyone from the community to share anything they may be able to donate to support this project as part of their fundraising via https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/osca3g or by contacting oldbury3g@ormistonsandwell.org.uk.
Adrian Price, Senior Principal at Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy, said: “This new pitch will be an amazing facility for our students and the local area. This exciting investment will allow all our students to access a wider variety of physical activities and sports, and encourage the local community to get involved in more community-led initiatives. The new area will boost students’ communication and teamwork skills, whilst encouraging them to lead a healthy and active life.
“We’re really excited to be opening this space and look forward to seeing our students’ sporting successes flourish. We’d like to give a huge thank you to Ormiston Academies Trust, the Football Foundation, and the entire Oldbury community for their support – we’d welcome everyone who would like to support this project or our walkers with a donation as part of our fundraising.”