Children conduct litter pick to round off National Volunteer Week

Groups of participants from the Foundation of Light's Premier League Kicks programme took to their local communities to take part in the Big Help Out litter pick.

As part of National Volunteer Week, children from Merryoaks Community Hall and Boldon Village Hall were encouraged to take pride in their surroundings and help out their community. 

The litter pick rounded off a week of highlighting the life-changing impact of volunteers at Sunderland AFC's official charity.

At the start of the week we celebrated volunteers at our Wear Together session at Boldon Village Hall. Participants took part in a seated chair exercise session, sports, and games before sitting down for lunch. Throughout the session, they had the chance to talk to the Foundation's Lynn Cuthbertson on opportunities for volunteering at the Foundation of Light.

Throughout the week, we highlighted the stories of some of the people giving up their time to support Foundation of Light programmes. 

One of those individuals is volunteer coach Andy Williams, who has not looked back since stepping up to coach a Foundation Community Club side in 2021.

You can read his story here: Andy's volunteering journey 

Thursday was also Power of Youth Day and we highlighted Kicks participant Laila Johnson who has taken part in over 1,000 hours of sessions with the programme, including 55 hours of volunteering.

This work helped her achieve a place to study Film and Media at university. Read her story: Click Here

Over 100 volunteers work with the Foundation of Light, from coaching football with the FCC to offering mental health support. If you are interested in volunteering: please click here