Cumberland FA just missed out on an award at the County FA Recognition Awards ceremony at Wembley Stadium.
The county had been short-listed for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award for the Starter Period Pack for Girls Project alongside projects from Lincolnshire FA, Northumberland FA and Surrey FA.
Although not triumphant the Cumberland was very proud to get national recognition for such an important project which has been described as ‘game changing to have on the sidelines’ by a parent involved in girl’s grassroots football.
The project, saw the county FA join forces with Tesco in Carlisle and Workington and Period Poverty North Cumbria to provide all affiliated girls teams (from U12 to U18) with a starter period product pack for training and matches for season 2022-23.
As a result, around 700 girls had equal access to period products if needed at training or matches.
The project not only wanted to provide the resources to support girls, amidst a cost of living crisis where one in four girls have stated that they are struggling to afford period products, but also wanted to raise awareness of these challenges and break down any barriers that may have stopped girls being able to access the products they need.
Due to the success of the project, this season Cumberland FA have once again teamed up with Tesco in Workington and Carlisle to provide period packs for new Under 12 girls teams, as well as rolling out the project to women’s teams. These will be distributed in the coming weeks to support the teams across Cumberland.
Cumberland FA have previously been shortlisted for projects and received national recognition in 2020 and 2022, with the United Against Abuse campaign, winning the Partnership category in 2020.
They were also shortlisted for the 2022 County FA Recognition Awards in the Youth Engagement category.
Established in 2019, the nationwide awards showcase the incredible work delivered by County FAs. With 242 nominations across the 12 categories for 2023, 29 different County FAs were shortlisted and invited to celebrate success at Wembley.
The ceremony was attended by almost 400 members of the County FA network, as well as England, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur legend Teddy Sheringham.
The FA’s Mark Bullingham and Debbie Hewitt were also guests of honour with the evening hosted by Sky Sports’ Kyle Walker.
