Curzon host free Christmas dinner

Christmas came early at Curzon Ashton's Tameside Stadium, as the club hosted a free, three-course meal for people over the age of 50.

The event was the second of its kind following the success of 2018 and attracted more than 70 people through the doors.

Those who took up the offer were treated to a starter, main and dessert, as well as good company throughout the afternoon.

Community manager Andy Cheshire, who helped the club secure the Football Supporters' Federation, National Game Community Award in 2018, said he was delighted with the turnout and believes such initiatives will only get stronger in the future. "The funding came last September from Manchester Secure Funding for three years, so next year we’ll be putting it on again, but after that we’ll have to look at identifying more external funding.

"The idea is to give something back. We do a lot of community work with a lot of demographics, but maybe we lack something for the older generation, so this is an event that we can put on annually for them."

The club have also launched weekly health and wellbeing sessions to comb at social isolation and depression. Those who attend will be treated to a two-course meal, a range of activities, and a free haircut if they wish.

There will also be yoga and art therapy available as well.

The sessions arrive two months after the club marked World Suicide Prevention Day with their own commemorations.

The idea came about from a conversation with Sharon Holt, sister of first team manager Mark Bradshaw, whose son Robert committed suicide four years ago at the age of 35.

As part of their own tribute, the first team players swapped their traditional blue shirts with luminous orange - the same colour as World Suicide Prevention Day's main ribbon logo.

The idea drew national attention and will therefore be built on next year. Andy said: "We had a national event in October to support the Suicide Awareness Day, and that’s something we’ll definitely build on next year. Mark’s sister, Sharon is very keen on speaking to me as well, so I think I’ll be meeting her in January to plan for next October’s event, but there’s going to be a lot of new initiatives in the coming 12 months. For us as a charity, we need to really look at a sustainability model that will drive us for the next 3-5 years.

"This year has been really positive. We’ve created our own charity so we’re now detached from the football club. We have an autonomous foundation that’s running all our community work. We’ve got a range of initiatives that are available for veterans, those who have varying abilities, and we’ll also be the first club outside of Manchester City and Manchester United to have a pathway for those suffering with disabilities to progress from under 12s to adult age football. 

"It's been really successful, but I still think there’s a long way to go as well."