On Friday 26th of January PROTEX had the pleasure of attending one of the satellite football clubs run by Redditch United in the Community, the new trust set up by Redditch United Football Club in autumn last year. The aim of the trust is to work in partnership with local organisations to reduce issues such as anti-social behaviour amongst young people by getting them involved meaningful activities such as sport.

As corporate sponsors of this project, our Technical Director Adrian Symons went along with representatives from Redditch United FC, West Mercia Police, Redditch Borough Council and Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire to meet the young people who regularly attend the weekly kick-about sessions at the Arrow Vale Academy in Matchborough.

Friday’s session was the first club night officially overseen by newly appointed community trust project manager Ryan Kettle, whose post is directly funded by our sponsorship. Another key aspect was to hand out the new red tops bearing the PROTEX logo to the young lads, all part of the project’s vision to create similar clubs all over the district.

Ryan is a qualified sports coach and since taking up his role on the 2nd of January has already established street dance sessions in Matchborough specifically for girls. There are now dodgeball sessions for both genders too.

He is currently delivering coaching sessions in primary schools across Redditch and has set up a community futsal (indoor football) programme for the under 10s. During the February half term he will be take over the delivery of a council-led project called Active Kitchen which provide sports coaching and meals to young people across Redditch.

Adrian Symons said:

“It was good to see the positive impact that the PROTEX funding is making to the Redditch United in the Community trust. The young people were not only having fun in a constructive way, but they were also off the streets in a safe environment. Additionally, it was also encouraging to hear that due to the additional support from PROTEX there is also a new dance class session for the young ladies and this is growing weekly.”

Ryan Kettle said:

“I am very fortunate to be in such a fantastic role at the club, which has only been possible thanks to PROTEX. As a Redditch lad I am very motivated to ‘paint the town red’ and give children, young people and families a better future.”

We look forward to updating you on future developments of the exciting project!