Today is day 7 of 7, with 6 days of solid cycling behind him with one big push today to get to the finish line in Southend. Gary Lockett is the chair of Southend United Community & Educational Trust and a director of Southend United Football Club. He embarked on this epic challenge, leaving Roots Hall in Southend in Essex on 15th June heading all the way up to Southend in Scotland.
Gary has currently completed 550 of the 640 miles and yesterday saw him cycle the width of Scotland in 7 hours from Edinburgh to Inveraray.
Day 5 and 6 were very challenging, with three big hills to climb into Edinburgh and a head wind on day 5. Day 6 saw Gary cycle into the hills of West Scotland, totalling 110 miles which is a massive achievement.
This is a great personal achievement with real mental toughness and resilience needed to get up day after day and cycle mile after mile for a charity close to his heart, one that he is also the chairman of.
Our vision is to utilise the power of sport and the vehicle of Southend United Football Club to have a positive influence of people’s lives with a mission to have engaged with 1 million people between 2016 and 2026.
We tackle the many complex issues facing our local community such as poverty, diabetes, isolation, bullying, anti-social behaviour, poor education, low self-esteem and so much more. We implement community and education focused programmes and solutions that make a real difference.
‘Football is where our passion starts and not where it ends,
Our goal is to teach young people to do more than score goals,
Whether they’re sporty or not, every child and young person in our community deserves the chance to part of a team,
Because when you’re part of a team, you discover great qualities in yourself. Qualities like respect, determination and friendship,
When you’re part of a team, you lay the foundations for the adult you’ll become,
When you’re part of a team, you learn how to be your best self,
Kicking a ball isn’t the be all and end all. It’s about building up the courage to take a shot,
That courage stays with you,
And once you have it, anything is possible.’
After Southend United were relegated from the English Football League (EFL), Southend United Community & Educational Trust has lost £100,000 per year in funding from the Premier League and EFL.
Gary Lockett, Southend United Community & Educational Trust Chairman and Director of SUFC is set to cycle from Southend on Sea to Southend in Scotland to raise vital funds to support the ongoing work that is carried out in the community.
Gary’s ride will start at Roots Hall Stadium, Southend on Sea, on 15th June 2022, and finish at Muneroy Tearooms, in Southend, Scotland on 21st June.
There will be special guests joining Gary along the way covering various parts of the country. The aim is for Gary to raise £10,000 to support the trust vital work.
Gary Lockett said “SUCET have had a difficult few years with regards to raising funds, it has been impacted by league position, by the pandemic and more recently the fire at Community Corner at Roots Hall. SUCET does fantastic work for our communities and so I felt a duty as the chairman to do my bit and help raise funds to allow SUCET to continue delivering its fine work”
Dale Spiby said “I am grateful to Gary for doing this fundraising event, it’s first going to be a tough personal challenge for Gary but one that we hope to see people backing and helping him raise funds to hit his target. The last couple of years have not been easy and so funds to help us continue delivery our work across Southend and south Essex will be gratefully received”.
Southend United Community & Educational Trust are proud to be part of the Joy of moving programme.
Ferrero UK’s corporate social responsibility project, the Joy of moving programme, which has been developed and delivered through a partnership with EFL Trust for over seven years, is based on methodology which is designed to inspire children to move though play and captures the fun approach, which we know is key. The methodology was established by independent experts, including Foro Italico (Rome University) and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and focuses on developing key skills in four major areas:
Physical fitness
Motor coordination
Cognitive functions & creativity
Life skills
The Joy of moving programme is delivered within schools and consists of two elements; the Move & Learn project and Joy of moving Festivals.
The programme has moved over 400,000 children providing them with over 2,000,000 additional hours of learning and activity.
This year, Southend United Community & Educational Trust are looking to inspire over 2700 children to develop lifelong habits which we hope will see them grow into active adults.
Move & Learn
Move & Learn is targeted at children aged 9 and 10 – a key milestone in a child’s development – and is designed to appeal to every child through a fun and engaging approach. Consisting of 9 hours of education over six weeks, plus a series of home-based family challenges, children learn about the importance of physical activity and how to eat a balanced diet and lead an active lifestyle. We also work hard to support and encourage schools to adopt the ideas and approach in the longer term.
We are seeing the results from taking this approach. Children respond with huge positivity, telling us that they have a better understanding of why it’s important to be active and to eat a balanced and varied diet. They are also more motivated to stay active. In fact, our latest evaluation of the programme has shown that 94% of children felt that the six weeks had given them new ideas to get active.
Joy of moving Festivals
Alongside Move & Learn, we run the Joy of moving Festivals that involve the full school during the summer term. These half or full day events are a celebration of being active. Children take part in a range of fun challenges and games during the day.
If you are a school wanting to get involved in the Joy of moving programme – please contact Dan King on 01702 341351 or d.king@southendunited-cet.co.uk
Joy of moving Resource hub
Having to adapt to the pandemic, an online resource, the Joy of moving Resource Hub, was made available to parents to keep their children active. The resource hub features several fun activities that can be played in the house or in the garden. Check out the games for inspiration on how to get your family moving through play!
The National Citizen Service (NCS) is a government funded programme for 16-17 year olds and aims to promote a more cohesive, responsible and engaged society. The NCS programme is focused on encouraging social mixing between young people of different backgrounds, local community engagement, skill development and building confidence. Southend United Community & Educational Trust delivers the NCS programme in Southend-on-Sea, with the residential taking place in Norfolk.
We are hiring both NCS Team Leaders and Assistant Team Leaders to work with us to deliver a programme of activities in Summer 2022. To lead a group of up to 16 young people throughout the duration of the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme as well as facilitate and deliver workshop sessions. Your passion, teamwork and outgoingness will drive the young people to complete the programme to the best of their ability
Please see the role descriptions below. For more information and to apply please contact Hayley Wren on 01702 341351 or email h.wren@southendunited-cet.co.uk
Kickstart is a government initiative that provides funding to create new jobs for 16-24 year old’s on Universal Credit who are at risk of long term unemployment. So far, we have employed 12 young people in meaningful roles including Community Coaches, Business Administration Assistants, Assistant Education Tutors, a Media & Marketing Assistant, and we have just employed a young person into the role of Assistant Health & Wellbeing Officer.
At the end of their 6 month placement two of our Kickstarters were rewarded with full time positions. Both joined us as Business Administration Assistants and have now secured the following roles: Insight & Impact Officer (Zoe Cornell) and Project & Admin Support Officer (Aaron Gold).
Zoe Cornell – Insight & Impact Officer
Zoe finished university in September 2020 where she received a BSc and MSc in Psychology. After completing her studies, she was working a part time job whilst searching for full time employment. She left her job due to COVID safety concerns and signed up to Universal Credit as we entered lockdown which made finding employment increasingly difficult.
Zoe heard about the Kickstart scheme from a job centre work coach and applied for the role of Business Administration Assistant. Zoe said, ‘After researching the trust I thought it would be a rewarding organisation to join’.
Throughout her placement Zoe was flexible in her approach to work and efficient in her support, when I asked her what elements of the job role did you enjoy the most? Zoe replied, ‘the ability to take on a variety of tasks which kept the days interesting’.
Zoe mentioned that participating in the Kickstart scheme gave her confidence and experience in a different sector. She said she would highly recommend the scheme to others saying, ‘It provides a great opportunity to find employment when current entry level jobs are asking for years of previous experience’.
Whilst working alongside Zoe we quickly realised we could utilise a number of skills she developed throughout her university studies, especially around insight and impact. This is an area we have highlighted ourselves as needing to improve so with Zoe now on board with a specific focus we will look to increase the coverage of projects with a real emphasis on the impact they are having on the participants.
Aaron Gold – Project & Admin Support Officer
Let’s hear from Aaron:
‘Before joining the kickstart scheme I was out of work in part due to covid related reasons but primarily because of the lack of experience that I had in an office-based environment. I had worked briefly in a variety of companies, but they never really clicked with me and helped me go in the direction that I wanted to go in. Therefore, when I heard about this scheme, I became very interested at the prospect of gaining experience whilst also being supported to reach my own personal goals.
I first heard about this scheme when talking to my work coach about potential jobs that I could do. They were listing a few out and we stumbled across the role I am now in by chance as it seemed to spark an interest in myself. I applied almost immediately, gained an interview shortly after and finally the job soon after that. The whole process was over and done with in well under a month or so.
I think the main thing that I enjoyed as part of this role was somewhat unrelated to the work and more towards the people. I find sometimes when I go into a new job its somewhat hard for me to settle and feel welcomed but from day one, I could see that the whole team really helped integrate me into the group. After that happened everything else became so much easier to do. I go into work with a smile on my face most days because I enjoy my work which can’t be said for most people in most jobs. I also enjoy the variety of work that I am given. Of course, there will always be those mundane office-based tasks which need to be done (which I have no objection doing at all) but I have also been given the opportunity to partake in various other tasks as well. Days out of the office supporting the ‘NCS events’ or helping run ‘Walking Football’ sessions spring to mind as key moments I enjoyed.
Throughout the six months that I have been working at Southend United Community & Educational Trust (SUCET) I think that my overall confidence has improved significantly. I may not show it all the time, but I can sometimes be quite shy. However, being in this role has helped me come out my shell and express myself to others in a way that I couldn’t do in any of the previous roles that I had been in. For that I am thankful for the team at SUCET. From a career standpoint I think that my general office-based skills have improved tenfold as well as refining any rough edges that I did have coming into the position (such as not knowing how to scan a document to someone!). I also think that learning some new systems and software was always a bonus, especially when nowadays almost every business has some form of software-based programme they regularly use. It really helped me challenge myself to learn quickly and adapt on the go. Finally, I think that, although not perfected, my phone call skills have improved. Having previously worked in a call centre I thought that answering calls and assisting people over the phone would come somewhat naturally to me- It didn’t. I had to learn how to best interact with people and assist them. This has taken some time, but I certainly think I’m in a better position now to when I started.
If I had to choose a single word to sum up my experience on the Kickstart programme at SUCET I think it would have to be ‘rewarding’. From meeting new people and making new friends, to expanding my knowledge and bettering my skills I think these six months I have spent at SUCET have been simply put ‘rewarding’. And it is because of those very reasons that I would recommend the kickstart programme to any young person looking to gain some experience and enjoy the process whilst doing so’.
School aged children and young people can enjoy festive fun with the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
Providers in Southend-on-Sea will be ready to accept bookings for winter sessions on Monday 22 November.
Postcards will be handed out to eligible children and young people at school from Monday 22 November, containing a unique code which parents can use to book their children on to the sessions over the festive holidays.
The sessions are offered between Saturday 18 December 2021 to Monday 3 January 2022. Children and young people who receive benefit related free school meals, are eligible to take part in the programme.
Cllr Laurie Burton, cabinet member for children and learning, said: “I’m pleased that we are able use this opportunity to provide eligible families with extra support this Christmas season.
“We understand that the school holidays can bring extra difficulty to families. The programme offers great support and gives the children and young people access to fun and active activities along with healthy food over the school holidays. “I hope that eligible families will take up this wonderful opportunity for their children and book them on the sessions to keep them healthy, active and entertained.”
If you think your child or young person is eligible, and you do not receive your postcard, please contact your child’s school or email the HAF team at haf@Southend.gov.uk
Marcus Rashford, MBE, is a supporter for HAF. He said on their website: “It’s very important that children have activities to do during the holidays. I can only go back to my own experiences and what I would have been doing if I didn’t have places my friends and I could go in a safe environment.” You can watch Marcus’s promotion video here: Marcus Rashford spreading the word | Holiday Activities & Food Programme 2021 – YouTube
The summer sessions generated some great feedback. One provider said: “They are so proud of their collaborative work and so are we! It’s the cherry on top to such a great month of positive activities with all this awesome kids.”
Another, said: “The summer programme brought to me the pleasure of being able to spend the day playing games, doing activities and talking with the lovely attendees throughout the week! It was a great way to spend the day with a highlight definitely being the collaborative painting and some intense games of ‘Uno’.
“I am grateful to be a part of the summer programme this year and hope everyone else enjoyed their time there.”
Southend United Community & Educational Trust (SUCET) are working together with Active Essex to provide children and young people access to activities this summer.
The Holiday Activity Fund (HAF) 2021 programme is designed to provide eligible children and young people with free, fun activities at holiday clubs.
This is a chance for children aged between 5-13 who receive free school meals to participate in our summer soccer schools. The day consists of football-based sessions, a chance to make new friends, free food in the form of a healthy lunch, and plenty of fun!
Alongside the sport sessions, we will be offering workshops that explain the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and how to achieve this. A healthy packed lunch will be provided for the children who attend.
All children will require drinks, suitable footwear (no studs), shinpads and clothing for all weather conditions. Children can only attend if they are claiming FREE SCHOOL MEALS. (You will need to quote a unique reference number from your school to book online)
This summer, SUCET are running Essex ActivAte Soccer Schools at three venues; Eversley Leisure Centre, The King Edmund School, and Waterside Farm Leisure Centre.
Courses begin on Monday 26th July (10:30am to 2:30pm) and run every weekday until it’s completion on 27th August. Bookings are available for both daily and weekly slots.
For more information and to book online please visit the link for your preferred venue below.
Staff from Southend United Community & Educational Trust (SUCET) have decided to take part in a sponsored cycle to support the donations made for the Community Corner re-build.
The staff have decided to pledge their support by cycling 500km in five days, which is the equivalent of travelling from Southend to Dundee.
Stationary bikes salvaged from the recent fire will be used from Monday 5th July to attempt the task. Throughout the week, staff members will be hopping on the bikes, which will be placed in various locations around Roots Hall, adding to the overall distance covered.
“We would like to say thank you to those who have contributed to our total so far. There is still a way to go, but I believe our community will pull together to help us to achieve this collaborative goal. It is, at the end of the day, a community space for all to use.”
Dale Spiby, CEO
Many staff members will be wearing fancy dress costumes in an attempt to earn more sponsorship for their efforts. Persons are encouraged to sponsor individual staff members or the staff team as a whole via the trusts JustGiving page which can be found here.
Daily updates will be provided on the SUCET social media accounts, so keep your eyes peeled for some familiar faces!
Earlier this month, local organisation Essex and Southend Sports Trust (EASST) pledged to match all donations (including Gift Aid) raised by 30th July. We encourage donations to be made before this generous offer expires.
Essex and Southend Sports Trust (EASST) have agreed to match donations made by the public up to the sum of £25,000 (including Gift Aid), in a bid to help re-build Community Corner.
Southend United Community and Educational Trust (SUCET) had worked hard before and during the pandemic to build a facility that was set to be used seven days a week as a community facility. Close to £100,000 had been spent on the area of the car park which suffered severe fire damage earlier this month. The money had been used for levelling off and relaying foundations, painting and treating fences, and gym and electrical equipment.
The trust had already launched seven initiatives in the now ruined area including gym sessions, traineeships and schemes to tackle loneliness and mental health issues. The trust hope to raise at least £50,000 to enable the necessary repairs to take place after plans have gone up in flames.
“We recognise the work Southend United Community and Educational Trust do and how they are a major community asset. I implore people to dig deep and support the organization in their hour of need.”
Peter Butler, Chairman of EASST
Promise and perish – Images of Community Corner before major improvements and after the destruction of the fire.
EASST’s generous proposal covers all funds raised on the ‘Community Corner Re-build’ JustGiving page by 30th June.
Since making its first grant in 2003, EASST has been supporting SUCET every season. The Trust made an earlier grant of £40,000 in winter 20/21 to assist programmes delivered within the local area and has now contributed £413,000 in total.
All at Southend United Community and Educational Trust would like to thank EASST for their continued dedication and support to the local community.
The ‘Community Corner re-build’ JustGiving page can be found here.
