Colchester United Community Foundation recently celebrated two incredible members of the local community.
On Tuesday 13th February we celebrated Sian Franklin, a year 6 pupil at one of our partner schools, as she was recognised as our Community Champion for February. Tied in with our annual Schools Networking Event, Sian was celebrated for completing an outstanding piece of work within our Premier League Primary Stars delivery.
During the Magazine Team programme, Sian created her own magazine, themed around the Disney film Lilo & Stitch, to speak about equality and diversity, shining a spotlight on LGBTQ+ topics in particular.
During the evening, Sian presented her magazine to a room full of local school staff – including PE Leads and SLT members – to talk about the skills she had learned, how this had impacted her since finishing the programme and speaking about why she felt the programme would benefit other pupils in the future.
Sian is a shining example of the work we do within schools and we are so proud of what she has achieved.
Despite the scheduled match vs Grimsby Town being postponed (due to a waterlogged pitch), we still ensured that Sian received a full stadium tour, as well as being presented with her award by our Health & Inclusion ambassador, John Akinde, before Danny Cowley took time out to talk to Sian about her work and congratulate her on her efforts at school.
“Sian has been made to feel like an absolute superstar and we had a fantastic evening. Although the game has been postponed, we’ll keep an eye out for the rearranged date and hopefully Sian will still be able to attend her first live game!”
At the end of the week - on Saturday 17th February, we presented Brandon Watkins with his Premier League Community Captain award as part of the Premier League's "More Than A Game" campaign. Brandon has been recognised as somebody who’s impact through the Foundation shines brightly.
Brandon is 18 and now volunteers on our Premier League Kicks programme having been a participant on the same programme when he was younger. Brandon gives up his time to support coaches on at our sessions in Clacton and Harwich each week, giving back to the community and inspiring a new generation of participants.
Brandon’s confidence has developed hugely since he started to coach and he is now beginning his L1 Introduction to Coaching Football.
As well as volunteering as part of CUFC's coaching team, Brandon also attends our weekly Pan-disability football session, (on Monday evening at the JobServe Stadium), where he has become an integral part of this fantastic and inclusive group.
Brandon’s mum, Natalie, said “Being part of the club has been amazing for him, the biggest impacts have to be his confidence and social skills, it's so hard for him, compared to some people, but since volunteering he’s really come out of himself and is happy being able to do something he loves.”
Our Community Champions are Your Community Champions and we celebrate someone every month at a CUFC match. If you know someone special who you would like to nominate please email
David.Hooley@colchesterunited.net
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