Staff and students from Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy (OSCA) have conquered a gruelling 16-mile walk to show their commitment to community sport.
The Oldbury school, has raised over £5,000 with a sponsored walk as part of their ongoing fundraising and 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 young sports fans proved their commitment to the challenge by walking from their academy to local schools 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 commitment to improving their community, students also took part in litter-picking along their walk to help protect their local environment and keep Sandwell looking pristine. Students have been organising bake sales, non-uniform days, raffles and even a Splash the Teacher event.
Speaking on the walk, Year 9 student Tia, said: “The day was tiring, but it was amazing to see everyone come together and get active. A lot of people sponsored me to take on this challenge, including family and my old primary school! The new pitch would mean a lot to me as I play a lot of football and it will hopefully encourage more girls to sign up to play football, too.”
Year 8 student Aaron said: “The walk itself was very tiring, but it was fun at the same time. I’m excited to reach the £10,000 goal as a new pitch would make PE lessons better and help more people get involved in sport.”
I am passionate about the power of social action and love the fact that our young people celebrate what is great about where they live and work hard to improve it too.
Adrian Price, Senior Principal at Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy
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 anyone from the local community to share anything they may be able to donate to support this project as part of their fundraising for the £10,000 goal, via their Just Giving Page or by contacting oldbury3G@ormistonsandwell.org.uk.
Adrian Price, Senior Principal at Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy, said: “Having completed a gruelling 16-mile walk in high 20-degree heat my overriding feeling is one of tiredness! I am passionate about the power of social action and love the fact that our young people celebrate what is great about where they live and work hard to improve it too. This pitch really does mean so much to the school and the community; we serve an area that deserves the very best facilities and we’d like to give a huge thank you to Ormiston Academies Trust, the Football Foundation, and the entire Oldbury community for their support in fundraising for this new pitch.”