Story added: 24th February 2020

Former Canary to support build the nest campaign

Former Canaries favourite Simon Lappin is set to swap football boots for running shoes in April to fundraise for the Community Sports Foundation’s #BuildTheNest campaign.

The man dubbed the ‘King of Spain’ by the City faithful will take on the 26.2 miles of the Virgin Money London Marathon to lend his support to the campaign, which is aiming to raise a total of £1 million to complete a second phase of construction at the Foundation’s community hub in Horsford.

Norwich City Football Club have pledged to match fund up to £500,000 of the funds raised and currently the campaign total stands at £400,000, including match funding.

The total cost of the second phase is £4.6 million, and when complete it will add multi-use indoor spaces, an IT suite, a 3G artificial football match, a café, and changing areas to the existing facilities, so that the Foundation may tackle a number of issues in Norfolk and extend their reach by an estimated 12,000 people a year.

The initial £3.6 million raised has been made up from funding sources, such as the Premier League and The FA Facilities Fund, Norfolk County Council, Greater Norwich Growth Board, New Anglia LEP, and previous fundraising from local businesses, trusts, donations, and events.

Simon himself has seen first-hand the impact of the Community Sports Foundation’s work in his role of Football Development Officer on the Foundation’s Football & Education programme.

The programme allows young people to continue their footballing progression with training and fixtures, while maintaining their academic development, higher education opportunities and employment potential.

Simon works closely with fellow ex-Canaries Adam Drury and Ryan Jarvis, as well as a team of tutors who help the students work towards a Cambridge National Extended Diploma in Sport.

Phase two’s added facilities will be a welcome boost for the Football & Education programme, but they will also improve the Foundation’s ability to support social mobility, health and wellbeing, disability sports, and community cohesion, as well as providing facilities for grassroots football, sports participation, and events.

As well as donating to his fundraising page, you can sponsor Simon’s kit in one of the following ways:

• £100 for your company name
• £300 for a small company logo
• £500 for a large company logo

Contact Emma Fletcher, Senior Fundraising and Events Manager for more information: [email protected]

To donate to Simon’s fundraising page, please click here.

Simon will be taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon alongside Fran Brown, and Lynne Hall from Credo Asset Finance, who organised the Canaryball Rally at the end of 2019.

Simon and Fran’s places have been kindly provided by Virgin Money Giving, Norwich and the Virgin Money Lounge, Norwich respectively.

Virgin Money Giving is the UK’s largest not-for-profit online fundraising website from Virgin Money and was established in 2009. More than 18,000 charities have registered with Virgin Money Giving and, by the end of 2018, over £800 million had been donated to charities through the service since its launch in 2009, resulting in many millions more donated to charities because of its not-for-profit model.

Other support for the #BuildTheNest campaign is welcomed in the form of donations from individuals, businesses or organisations, or taking part in the Foundation’s designated fundraising events.

Supporters may also purchase a paving stone in the ‘Walkway at The Nest’, which is due to be installed this year.

If you think you could help the Community Sports Foundation to #BuildTheNest in one of the ways mentioned, or in another way, please visit the Build The Nest webpage, or contact [email protected].