As part of its ongoing centenary celebrations, Workington Reds have this week launched a major new initiative that will see the club reach out to local schoolchildren.
Over the coming few months the club will distribute 6,000 free centenary passes to children via local schools and grassroots football clubs throughout West Cumbria.
Effectively a season ticket, the passes will give free admission to all league fixtures at Borough Park not only for the remainder of this season but also for season 2022/23.
Richard Lewthwaite, one of the club’s Community Directors, said: “This is a project that will reach out to the children of West Cumbria as the club looks to further strengthen its links within the local community.
“We are building for the future, not only on the pitch but more importantly off it as well. As we celebrate the history of the club we are looking to the next 100 years and that starts with the young people of Workington and the surrounding area. They are the future of Workington AFC.
“Already this season we have welcomed different grassroots clubs to every home game as part of our Matchday Experience Scheme. That has been really well received by the kids and their parents. This is now taking that to the next level.
“We want the local youngsters to be a huge part of what we hope will be a strong promotion push over the coming months and to discover what the club has to offer longer-term.”
The first batch of nearly 1,000 tickets was distributed this week through local clubs and schools and the rollout will continue into the early part of 2022 in what will be the biggest project of this type that the club has ever undertaken.
Manager Chris Willcock helped distribute passes to the junior players of Red’s County Cup opponents Maryport Athletic before Tuesday’s game between the two clubs.
Club Chairman David Bowden added: “We are immensely proud of this initiative, if we can link the love of football so many of our children have for bigger clubs alongside our club, then we can start to build the next generation of supporters.”
