Communication to Club re a Community Partnership

Text for Communication to Club re a Community Partnership

Sent to Liam Dooley, Chief Operating Officer on 9th March 2022

Dear Liam,

You will have been informed by Sheffield City Council that the council has designated Hillsborough Stadium as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) following the application made by the Trust, the ACV application was supported by local councillors, the Hillsborough Community Forum and city MP’s. 

We want this ACV designation to not just be about protections for the stadium but to be a springboard for the formation of an enhanced partnership between the club, Wednesday fans and the local community that will bring benefits for all parties.

Following the ACV announcement, the three local Hillsborough Ward Councillors (Cllr Josie Paszek, Cllr Christine Gilligan-Kubo and Cllr George Lindars-Hammond) said the following:

“We, the Hillsborough Ward Councillors were happy to support this application throughout the process and would like to congratulate the SWFC Supporters Trust who have, in conjunction with partners and members of the community, put in so much hard work to deliver it.

The football club and the ground has been at the centre of our community for well over a century and no other asset in private ownership in our area comes close to the levels of sustained usage and benefit to the community and we believe that this is something we must protect going forward. 

We further believe that it will build on the work already carried out by the SWFC community workers in the now cramped accommodation at the training ground and will help create a genuine community offer to multi-generational people with diverse economic activity to achieve benefits for all the community in the area, we look forward to working with them and their partners to achieve this in the future.”

The Trust supports the ambition of the local councillors in this regard.

We don’t have a fixed view about how the partnership we envisage should be structured or should operate – our purpose in writing is to seek the club’s commitment to establish such a partnership and an indication of your willingness to join a conversation with the Trust, local councillors and the local community on how we do this.

The Trust developed and submitted the ACV application, and the Trust has built the relationship with local councillors and community representatives, for these reasons we believe that the Trust will be a key player in taking the partnership forward. 

We await what will hopefully be a positive response from the club to our suggestion for the partnership described above.

Yours Sincerely

Steve Walmsley

Trust Board Chair