The Sir Tom Finney Foundation is a charitable trust and the community arm of the Football Club, run by full-time staff Gary Robinson - Sir Tom Finney Foundation Manager - and Chris McGrail. For more information on the activities below please email community@pne.com or call 01772 693312.
Sir Tom Finney Foundation Soccer Schools
Every school holiday period sees North End inundated with applications from families wanting to send their children on one of the Club’s fun and friendly junior football courses.
North End’s highly qualified and CRB-checked community coaches deliver a fun and varied coaching programme keeping the football action stimulating, with a guarantee that no two days over each course period will be the same.
A superb value-for-money offering, each day costs between £12 and £15 per child, dependant on how long each session lasts.
What's more, every holiday soccer school there will be a fantastic offer of a gaurenteed saving for booking a full course.
This means that if you're busy working and need an entire half-term-long childcare solution, the holiday soccer school courses are the ideal solution for you!
Attendees will be given a great coaching experience to develop their sporting and inter-personal skills, and will take home a PNE gift and certificate of participation.
To book your child onto the course, or to express your interest via community@pne.com, or call 01772 693312 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, with your credit/debit card details to hand.
Each day, children will need a packed lunch, drinks, shin pads and appropriate footballing footwear and attire.
Deepdale Duck Roadshow
Official Partner
Each season the Club’s community development department visits all primary schools within our catchment area – 250 plus schools, visiting 40,000 plus children at Key Stages 1 and 2.
The Club works closely with local teachers to find an appropriate new message; healthy eating, road safety and the environment have been three topics in recent years. Each theme gives a real sense of engagement and encourages children to think of PNE, the community that they live in and how they can make a positive contribution.
The Club is looking for a sponsor/partner to help deliver the roadshow in 2012/13 and beyond.
Fun and action packed one hour football coaching sessions for children aged two to four years.
The content of each session is specifically designed to engage with young children who are taking their first small steps in the beautiful game. Session content is taught in a way that engages children and helps them learn and understand the correct techniques of playing football at the same time as helping their minds and bodies to be active and healthy.
PNE's CRB checked, first aid and qualified football coaches deliver exciting and fun football sessions to help young children get valuable exercise, to develop and learn new football skills. As an added extra, each coaching session is linked to the national curriculum including literacy and numeracy.
Sessions can be booked on a certain day and time all year round or can be tailor made for each nursery's need.
To book a free taster session or to find out further information, please contact the Sir Tom Finney Foundation on 01772 693318 or email community@pne.com.
Education Programmes
The Foundation is furthering its commitment to enrich people’s lives through its education programmes, the Sir Tom Finney Foundation is delivering the following initiatives:
Preston North End Futsal Academy
This programme covers 39 weeks of the academic year. The course is open to school leavers up to the age of 20. The programme is designed to offer young adults the chance to gain a B-Tech level 2 and 3 qualification (equivalent to A-Levels) in sports leadership and management.
The course will be accompanied by eight hours a week Futsal coaching along with organised matches against other football clubs.
Young adults who will enrol on the course will represent Preston North End in a regional Futsal 7-a-side league. The hope is that many of the students on completion of the course will go on to further education at university to gain a degree in sports leadership.
The education element will be delivered at what is currently known as The Study Lab at Deepdale Stadium.
Preston North End is looking for young adults aged 16-19 to enroll on this exciting new course. Please contact the Sir Tom Finney Foundation for further information on 01772 693312.
Preston North End Sports Coaching Academy
Similar to the PNE Fustal Academy, any student who will sign up to this course will undertake a B-Tech Level 1, 2 and 3 in sports leadership.
The Sir Tom Finney Foundation is actively encouraging recruitment of young adults on to course. The Foundation and the Club is hoping that this project will attract school leavers and young adults who would not normally look to further education.
A bonus to being able to gain a national recognised qualification, students on this course will be placed with The Sir Tom Finney Foundation, where they will work alongside the Club’s experienced coaching staff on a daily basis which will help to prepare them for future employment. The long term plan is for students to be able to gain paid work in the coaching sector as well as with the Club.
The Sir Tom Finney Foundation are looking for young adults to enrol on the 2012/13 course. To find out find out further information, please contact The Sir Tom Finney Foundation on 01772 693312 or email community@pne.com.
Preston North End National Citizen Service Project
The PNE NCS is a volunteer social action project that will be delivered over five weeks in the summer holidays. The project will look to commence July 2013, with recruitment starting January 2013, and the initiative comprises of two-one week residential, were young people will be taking part in various outdoor activities and completing qualifications such as community sport leader award (CSLA).
The aim of the qualifications and the program is to develop and improve skills, and raise awareness of local opportunities for pupils who are leaving school. There is also a social action week and 30 hours of community volunteering built into the program.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for any school leaver. The Sir Tom Finney Foundation are looking for young adults to enrol on the 2012/13 course.
To register your interest or for further information, please contact the community department on 01772 693318 or email community@pne.com.
Healthy Living, Lifestyle and Football Project
The Sir Tom Finney Foundaion delivers a ground breaking initiative and exciting project that uses the power of football and the name of Preston North End to help educate and motivate children and their families in tackling the serious issue of obesity.
The project works through visiting local primary and secondary schools, by request, to deliver a one hour per week, ten-week programme for KS1, KS2 and KS3 pupils. This hour includes education work on leading a healthy lifestyle, using textbooks especially designed for the project and physical work including football training sessions delivered by highly qualified PNE coaching staff
This project won ‘Best Community Project’ at the North West Sports Awards and was short-listed for the Community Award at the prestigious Sports Industry Awards.
For further information or to book the project, please contact the Sir Tom Finney Foundation on 01772 693318 or email community@pne.com.
Press Packers is an extremely popular project and is a superb and unique opportunity for pupils to gain first hand experience in the role of a sports journalist.
Spending a match day at the Club, pupils will learn about journalism, interview techniques and writing match reports. Using their 'access all areas' passes they will
meet and interview players, watch the game from the executive area, conduct a post match press conference and produce a match report that will be published on the PNE website.
This outstanding project is perfectly suited for primary and secondary school pupils who are interested in football and writing.
To book a party or group or to find out more about Press Packers, please contact the community department on 01772 693312 or email community@pne.com.
Paul Newsham - Chair The Board of Trustees
Paul Newsham is a life long PNE fan and joined the board of directors of Preston North End FC in June 2004. He is managing partner at Haines Watts Chartered Accountants. He specialises in audit and corporate finance as well as general practice. As a partner of a growing accountancy firm he has extensive experience of running a business and larger organisations.
Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1990 and joined Demacks in Leyland as an audit manager in October that year. A year later he became a salaried partner and then 12 months after that was made an equity partner. He helped develop the practice with Geoff Demack doubling its size and launching new financial services and IT arms.
In 2002 Geoff Demack retired and the company became the Preston office of the £40m turnover national firm of Chartered Accountants, Haines Watts.
Bryan Gray, CBE, DL
Bryan Gray is Chairman of Peel Media Group. He was Chairman of North West Development Agency for over seven years having previously been Chief Executive of Baxi Group, one of Europe's leading heating companies. His early career was with ICI.
He is also Pro-Chancellor of Lancaster University, and Chairman of Westmorland Limited, a family owned company which operates Motorway services. He is a Trustee of National Museums Liverpool and a member of the Lake District National Park Authority. His previous roles include Chairman of the company responsible for Liverpool's European Capital of Culture, Chairman of Preston North End Football Club and founder Chairman of the National Football Museum. He has been Chair of CBI Northwest and is involved in a number of charitable organisations.
He was awarded an MBE for services to regeneration and a CBE for services to the North West. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire and was High Sheriff in 2003/04.
Ben Rhodes
After graduating from Lancaster University with a degree in English literature and a masters in newspaper journalism from the University of Central Lancashire, Preston-born Ben joined Preston North End in 1999 working for the Club's media department, within three years he was appointed media and marketing manager, taking over duties as the Club's programme editor and official spokesman.
In 2004 he was appointed to the position of general manager and in 2011 he was appointed club secretary. Ben assists in the running of the Club's administration, including everything from media, marketing, commercial, community, safety, ticketing and retail and works alongside the Club's chairman and executive finance director on a day to day basis.
Malcolm Woodhouse JR
Malcolm Woodhouse has been running M Woodhouse Transport Lancaster Ltd for 32 years and has recently taken up the role of Managing Director.
Malcolm assisted his father (Malcolm Woodhouse Snr) in stabilising PNE in the Club’s darkest days during the mid 1980’s and helped negotiate the sale of the Club to Baxi in the mid 1990’s. Malcolm was on the board of directors of PNE during the 1980’s.