Russell Martin Foundation (RMF)

One might have thought that the impact of COVID-19 would have slowed down the work that we have been doing at RMF. This, however, could not be further from the truth!

Old Barn Way – Southwick

RMF are in the process of taking over the lease for Old Barn Way, the old home of Southwick FC. Unfortunately, the site has fallen into a state of disrepair and will take a concerted effort by RMF, the local council and the local community to get the site up and running again. Having said that we have some really exciting plans for the future of the site including a new clubhouse and a 3G pitch. We want the club house to be used by the local community throughout the week for education and health initiatives as well as of course football on weekday evenings and at the weekend.  We are delighted to be working with Southwick 1882 FC who plan to make Old Barn Way their new home. Over the next few weeks, we will be approaching local businesses to help us make this a facility that the community can be proud of once again.

Football

Although the COVID-19 restrictions have stopped us from coaching at our normal venues, we have kept the sessions going by doing them remotely. This has been a major challenge for our coaches and for the participants but the feedback we have has been amazing. Also, since restrictions were lifted, we were so pleased to have 160 participants for our academy day and our Easter holiday programmes reached record numbers with close to a 50% increase on last year.

Education

We currently have two education centres in Brighton & Worthing with another planned in Chichester for September. These centres are for those 11-13 year old students who are finding mainstream education challenging for a variety of reasons. They stay with us for 12 weeks before returning to their secondary school. We were delighted with the brilliant feedback we got from an Ofsted inspector who was commissioned by Brighton & Hove Council (BHC) to see how we were doing.  BHC have now committed to part-funding us for another 3 years.

Health

Over the Christmas period, RMF gave support to 219 families with food that was donated by the families and friends of the those who participate in our programmes.

We wouldn’t be able to make a lot of this happen without the valuable contribution of our main sponsors, Skerritts Financial Consultant and Donatello Restaurant.

Finally, we would like to say a huge congratulations to the fantastic Chestnut Tree House for winning the Charity of the Year Award.

www.russellmartinfoundation.co.uk