Eight years ago, Roger Goodwin and Sian Davies campaigned to Join the Trust Board in order to instigate a project designed to make more youngsters aware of the work of the Trust and the Club. They felt this could be best achieved by making working with the Trust an integral part of some secondary school examination courses.
Extended discussions were held with the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) and eventually this led to the Swans Trust devising an approved “Challenge” for pupils in the 14-16 age group that formed part of their Welsh Baccalaureate and Key Skills Qualifications. Pupils would be asked to devise and present ideas that would improve the match day experience for younger supporters.
When tackling the Challenge many pupils had discussions at, and tours of, the stadium. They met Trust Board members and Club Ambassadors at their schools to review their progress. Finally, they pitched their ideas to panels often including Swansea legends Lee Trundle and Leon Britton. The WJEC’s website featured the work on the Challenge at Dwr y Felin School as an example of good practice while, at Leon’s suggestion, one of its group’s ideas was trialled at the stadium on a match-day. We were highly indebted to the Club for providing access to their facilities and tours of the stadium, all without charge, and without their support the initiative would not have been the success it has been.
Over the next three years the number of schools involved in the project spread across three education authorities: Swansea, Neath/Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire. Well over a thousand pupils achieved the Challenge, helping them towards their Welsh Baccalaureate and the initiative looked as if it was going from strength to strength.
Then four years ago the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the project was literally stopped in its tracks. Visiting schools and any behind the scenes work at the stadium became impossible and there was no other alternative but to immediately suspend all work on the Initiative.
Sian moved to wider responsibilities within the Trust and Roger became the sole project leader for the Initiative. Early in 2022 he began reaching out to schools once again in an effort to build upon the progress that had been achieved before the pandemic. Understandably schools had other priorities at that time but thanks to their understanding, and Roger’s perseverance, the Schools’ Initiative was relaunched in Autumn 2022.
This time, in addition to once more making our Welsh Baccalaureate Challenge available for 14–16-year-olds the project now offers Economics and Business Studies students up to the age of eighteen a chance to visit the stadium to gain an insight into the operation of one of Swansea’s larger businesses They enjoy a tour of the stadium followed by the opportunity to ask questions on business aspects of the Club such as the ownership patterns, cost structures and levels, revenue streams, investment and generally how modern-day finances impact a football club business like Swansea City. This includes the framework of the EFL’s “Profitability and Sustainability” regulations and their potential effect on the Club.
We have been posting updates across our social media channels during the season and the final two of the school visits to the stadium took place last month when the Supporters’ Trust hosted groups of sixth form students from Morriston and Bishop Vaughan Comprehensive schools at the Swansea.com stadium. They were all studying BTEC Level 3 Business Studies courses and were looking at the Club as a case study. The introduction of this Economics and Business strand to the Initiative has allowed the Trust to involve tertiary colleges for the first time so that groups from Neath Port Talbot College and both campuses of Gower College have been involved.
Just like last season the Trust are extremely grateful to the Club for providing room hire and stadium tours free of charge without which the experience for the young people would be greatly diminished. Swansea City Supporter Liaison Officer Catherine Thomas has worked tirelessly to fit everything in for us, often at very short notice and Lee Trundle has again kindly committed his time to meeting the students at the Swansea.com stadium and in schools.
The last event of the season will take place at Dwr y Felin School, Neath, at the end of April. Roger, Lee Trundle and the Swans Foundation Education Manager will visit to encourage the pupils involved in the WJEC Welsh Baccalaureate Challenge and give them further guidance on completing the module. Indeed, our heartfelt thanks are due to the Swans Foundation for facilitating and being actively involved in the delivery of the programme over the past couple of seasons.
We carry out annual reviews of the project and its value in terms of helping youngsters achieve qualifications while increasing their awareness of the importance of football to the community. These are part of discussions into scheduling a programme of events for successive seasons. These discussions are already underway, in order to allow the project to resume as early next season in the new academic year as possible.
If anyone has any questions to ask about the Schools’ Initiative project, or perhaps would like to be involved in its delivery, please email Project Leader Roger Goodwin on roger.goodwin@swanstrust.co.uk
Swansea City Supporters’ Trust
13th April 2024
