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.