Latest news with #CommunityTrust
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Reading Women open applications for 'expressions of interest' in joining club
Women and girls across Reading have been invited to apply to play for the club next season. A club steeped in history, regulars in the Women's Super League for over a decade under the management of Kelly Cousins, the side are now in the fifth tier (Southern Region Women's Football League Premier Division.) This is under the control of the Community Trust, who stepped up after Dai Yongge refused to fund the women's side. No longer playing out of Reading, the Women play at Slough Town's Arbour Park. Last season Pedro Bruno's side finished eighth out of 10, winning four of their 18 matches. Lucy Bolitho won Player of the Season and received her award on the pitch at the SCL Stadium on the final day of the League One season. If you wish to express an interest in playing, fill in this form attached where you must disclose your current club, previous playing experience and injury history. The future could be exciting though with news of Rob Couhig's takeover. Speaking of his plans, the former Wycombe Wanderers chief said: "We're going to want to establish a relationship with the women's team to see what we can do within the economic confines of our overall remit to help them. I want to work with the Trust to see what I can do to assist them." Wycombe Wanderers Ladies finished second in the same division as Reading last season.
National Post
09-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Terry Newman: RCMP puts land, African Nova Scotian acknowledgements before missing kids
Article content This has likely spread to the RCMP due to the initiative's fifth stated action to: 'Prioritize advancing the work of Dalhousie's Diversity and Inclusiveness Strategy, Indigenous Strategy, African Nova Scotian Strategy, and actions that reflect Dalhousie's commitment to an anti-racist culture.' Article content Now, putting the valid distinctness, histories, legacies, and contributions of African Nova Scotians aside for the moment, what use did the RCMP see in making this announcement? They're obviously not looking to be recognized as one of the world's leading universities. Article content Is the RCMP in Nova Scotia insecure about past and present treatment of African Nova Scotians? If that's the reason, say so. Deliver a clear, public apology for each and every wrongdoing, not at a press conference scheduled for an update on missing kids, but at an event tailored specifically to that purpose. Then, move past it. Change policies that may have led to such wrongdoings. If forgiveness is what the Nova Scotia RCMP seeks from African Nova Scotians, then ask for it. Article content Was it the RCMP's attempt to show African Nova Scotians that they can trust them? Well, there are better ways to do that, too. They can begin by stating outright that they are, in fact, seeking to earn their trust. They could become a more regular and warm presence at community festivals and participate in youth initiatives. If you want a community's trust, earn it with actions. Article content Article content Just don't blow smoke up their backsides by delivering the vaguest of possible statements about their distinctness, histories, legacies, and contributions to the enrichment of the province. They know what they are. Article content Like the land acknowledgment which preceded it, this was a shallow ritual. Both were out of place in the context of an update on a search for missing children. Neither lead to any real-world effects, other than the delay of timely information being communicated to the public and a checkmark on some public relations expert's checklist. Article content Even from the most well-meaning of orators, acknowledgments like these are largely a form of self-flagellation for actual or perceived wrongs. They are an attempt for the speaker and/or those in attendance to cast off feelings of guilt in a pseudo-religious ceremonial way. Their underlying purpose is to deflect blame by avoiding direct specific apologies and/or actual efforts needed to put issues to rest. They do not solve cultural problems. Instead, they ensure their persistence by enshrining them as if they were scripture, behaving as if a particular groups' unfortunate conditions, stated or implied, will be a constant, continuing, and necessary feature of our society. Article content And where will these declarations end? Does the Nova Scotia RCMP have a hierarchy of groups it believes the public should be acknowledging? Which group is next? Will they be trickling them out one at a time? How do they make these decisions about groups and their contributions to the province? Clearly, they are no longer based solely on length of time spent in Canada. If so, Acadians — who were literally ethnically cleansed from Acadie in 1755 — would have been mentioned before African Nova Scotians. Or are they no longer 'distinct' enough, whatever that means? Will future acknowledgment choices be added based on the relationship between the RCMP and particular groups they police? How long can we expect future RCMP updates on missing kids to take, by the time they get to the end of their acknowledgments list? Article content It's not clear why such acknowledgments exist, at all, before RCMP updates. One thing is for sure — they certainly should not be reciting them in order to deflect blame, or to avoid apologies or the exertion of the genuine efforts required to actually engage with these groups, which they clearly see as disadvantaged, even if they do not admit it outright and, instead, state the exact opposite. Article content
Telegraph
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Revealed: Premier League clubs charging thousands for children to be mascots
Premier League clubs are charging as much as £1,800 for children to be mascots at games, prompting fierce criticism from MPs and campaigners. The most expensive package has surged 157 per cent since clubs previously stood accused of neglecting low-income families in a Telegraph Sport analysis in 2020. Half of top-tier clubs now hand all places out for free, but Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Ipswich and West Ham are still charging rates branded 'exploitative' by critics. Clubs vehemently defend their pricing policies, pointing out hospitality and kit is often provided and free spaces are also handed out to the community. However, Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, joined fan groups and fellow MPs in expressing shock. 'It feels a shame that some clubs are profiting by pricing so many young fans out of this wonderful experience,' she said. In 2020, the highest rates were up to £700, with West Ham, Forest, Norwich and Aston Villa all advertising rates up to £500 and beyond for their biggest matches despite complaints from supporters. Villa are among clubs to quietly ditch charging families while the likes of West Ham have also reduced maximum prices. Forest, however, now charge by far the highest price for their most expensive package. For a Category A match, a family must fork out £1,800 plus VAT for an advertised package which covers the child involved and three additional guests in hospitality. Niall Couper, chief executive of Fair Game, which represents 35 clubs across the football pyramid, said in response: 'Being a mascot is one of the greatest experiences a young football fan can have and to see a number of rich Premier League clubs with billionaire owners such as Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Ipswich and West Ham United charging huge sums of money for this just isn't right.' Forest and Brighton – who charge up to £415 for packages – reject all criticism of pricing structures, pointing out they also hand out multiple places free of charge on any given matchday. 'On a match day, Nottingham Forest invite a minimum of two match mascots, with one of these being a participant invited from our Community Trust programmes and offered free of charge, and the other as part of a hospitality package which we can't put a price on as it is sold as a wider package,' Forest said in a statement. 'Consistently this season we have provided multiple free-of-charge mascot places for each home game, with as many as five catered for at some games. All these go to deserving children and/or young participants from our Community Trust programmes.' Brighton, meanwhile, say they give two free mascot spaces for every home game, and all away games, and 'where we only have one mascot this package is free'. Remaining packages sold at up to £415 are 'largely due to the fact that we were regularly asked for this service to be provided, prior to us offering', the club says. 'Packages tend to sell out within a few weeks of them being made available. We feel they represent value for money and give children an unforgettable experience.' Critics, however, suggest all mascot places should be handed out for free in line with the majority of other top-tier clubs, most of whom require mascots to be club members. 'I had no idea it's so pricey in some clubs, and there is such a disparity,' said Dame Caroline. 'This is a dream for so many children.' Public Accounts Commission chairman Clive Efford MP added: 'Pricing working-class families out of ever being a mascot like this is pure greed. Considering the millions Premier League clubs get each year from TV deals, how can they justify charging for what for many is a childhood dream? They should be ashamed.' The Forest pricing structure is out of kilter with the general matchday experience at the City Ground. Recent research ranked the stadium as the second cheapest top-tier home ground, with the lowest average taxi fares and season tickets starting from £550. The club also offers the cheapest stadium pies at just £3.30. Yet the top mascot package costs more than the average monthly rent in Nottingham for a three-bedroom house, which is £1,373. Gerry Sutcliffe, the former sports minister, said he 'cannot believe those charges for mascots at games'. 'Squeezing every last penny from supporters and complete disregard for supporters who can't afford to pay such expensive prices,' he said. 'It adds already to overpriced tickets to games at kick-off times that don't help fans. It has become a game for the elite and corporate crowd. Hope that the football regulator can intervene.' Other clubs take dramatically different approaches. In the lower tiers, Tranmere Rovers, for example, have a policy in which all young fans who purchased kit had an automatic chance to appear on the pitch for free. Criticism of mascot prices comes at a sensitive time for the Premier League, which is opposed to the incoming regulator which was recently scrutinised in the House of Lords ahead of implementation. Reflecting on mascot prices, Couper said: 'This is why Fair Game wants to Build a Fairer Future for Football where fans of all clubs are not being exploited.'
