ABILITIES COUNTS FUNDING
- media91681
- May 4
- 2 min read
Owen Huggins
Our Abilities Counts team has secured £2,700 in funding from St Peter’s Free Mason Lodge in Tiverton.
Funding is crucial to running our Abilities Counts team, who offer the opportunity for people with disabilities to play football.
We have three sides that all compete in the Devon FA Abilities Counts Leagues.
Tam Dudgeon, a founder and coach of our Abilities side, while being a member of St Peter’s Lodge, is thankful for the funding and what it provides his teams.
“So the cost of hiring this pitch is a lot. We are getting new kitting, and we are getting new equipment in.”
Our Abilities Counts teams currently train on the astro at Exe Valley Leisure Centre.
The sides are looking for more storage space within our club, too.
Competing in the Devon Abilities Counts League comes with travel to the tournaments they compete in.
Our Abilities Counts next tournament is on the 17th of May at Exmouth.
Travel to these events comes at a cost. Dudgeon and the coaching team hire mini buses for their squads.
“It's £160 to £190 every time it's a tournament, we do six tournaments, it's over £1,000 on travel.
Tiverton Town’s wider goals of becoming the centre of our town's community through the installation of a 3G pitch at Ladysmead would benefit our Abilities Counts teams, believes Peter Parker Brock, Abilities Counts Manager.
“The 3G pitch at Tiverton Town FC would give the Ability Counts team consistent access to a safe, all-weather facility, enabling inclusive training, regular game time, and the opportunity to participate fully and host tournaments.”
The £2,700 was presented by Worshipful Master Paul Holdsworth from St Peter’s Lodge, Tiverton, who explained how the Masons raise money for charitable organisations.
“We are a society of people who try to make other people better. Our primary interaction with the community is charity work, and I believe we're the second biggest charity giver in the country, behind the National Lottery; we give over £30 million a year to charity.”
Dudgeon, alongside founding the Abilites Count Team, is also a member of the Masons and a former Worship Master whose chosen charity was his Abilites Counts Sides.
If you wish to get involved in supporting our Abilities Counts team, get in contact with Abilities Counts Manager, Peter Parker Brock.
+44 7540 163967
