Woody Welcomes Manchester United

Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world so it didn't surprise us to see they have a huge community impact, and don't even get us started on Marcus Rashford!

The Reds have had a Disabled Supporters Association since 1989. It was the first one in the world, and one of the biggest, and is solely dedicated to disabled supporters' issues at Manchester United. It has close ties to the Club, and even has Sir Alex Ferguson as Patron!

Manchester United Foundation oversees an incredible range of fundraising and charitable activities; it tries to use football to engage and inspire young people to build a better life for themselves and unite the communities in which they live.

It has many projects that help with disability and inclusion and here are three which we really liked..

Powerchair football

Powerchair football is a unique sport that provides opportunities for people with a high level of impairment to access the game of football and is the only active team participation sport for those that use electric wheelchairs. Its unique nature allows all ages, disabilities and both male and female players to compete together, and from what we have seen is fast-paced and very exciting to watch! Manchester United Foundation runs weekly sessions at the Moss Side Millennium Powerhouse and has teams who compete in the FA's national league.

Partner Schools programme

This is really impressive. The Foundation currently have eight partner special schools across Greater Manchester, with a full time member of staff within the school. The main aim is to help develop the lives of young people at these schools. This includes encouraging the students with their studies in and out of term time, and also help building their life skills with individual programmes and mentoring and working on health and wellbeing using sports sessions that include boxing lessons, 1K walks, swimming, rebound sessions with trampolines, and of course football. It's really exciting to think about the positive effect this has on these young people (and their families), it's truly using the power of sport to change people's lives and we love it.

And "Rooney's Inclusive Reds" really caught our eye...

Rooney's Inclusive Street Reds is for children from across Manchester and enables disabled and non-disabled children to come together, play football, and learn from each other. Teams are made up of a similar age and ability. Woody adores playing football with everyone wherever he can and this is exactly the kind of thing he loves!

The sessions run free-of-charge every Monday and are open to children ages 7- 11 and 12-18 and as well as football there are lots of other positive activities for young people to take part in.

A special Rooney’s Inclusive Street Reds session also runs every Monday evening, as an extension of the Foundation’s successful Street Reds programme (United’s version of Premier League Kicks). The sessions are free-of-charge for children aged 7-18 and as well as football there are lots of other positive activities for young people to take part in.

It's co-funded by former star player Wayne Rooney's Foundation (hence the name) and launched last year. It's already had over 2,000 young people from across the Manchester area take part, and over 80 have gained various accredited qualifications such as Boccia, Goalball, Football and Refereeing. Which helps get them get even more involved in grassroots football. What a fantastic project.

We think Woody wants to move to Manchester on Mondays!