We are delighted to announce that Burgess Hill Town Juniors are the first ever club to achieve our Equality Charter Award.

The Equality Charter Award has been designed to drive forwards inclusion in football, so that we can ensure that football is a place where everyone feels welcome. 

On their way to achieving the Level 1 award, Burgess Hill Town Juniors have completed the following actions:

- Signed up to the Kick It Out Equality Charter
- Appointed a Club Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer
- Implemented an Equality Policy
- Attended a Sussex Disability Football League fixture
- Ensure all coaches at the club have completed the EE Playmaker by England Football course as a minimum
- Attended a Female Friendly Club Workshop
- Dedicated a weekend of matches to raise awareness of race within in football

Upon receiving the award, Vince Alfieri, Chairman of Burgess Hill Town Juniors, said: “We’re very proud to receive this award and be the first club in Sussex to do so. As a club we identified that we wanted to become more inclusive so that more children can enjoy the benefits of playing football and this Equality Charter Award was the ideal way to do that.

“By taking part in the Charter, we discovered the many campaigns and activities The FA are involved with, such as Rainbow Laces and Kick It Out, and how grassroots clubs like us can join in with those and be a part of the great work to raise awareness and push the messages.

“We noticed through the process the need for us to further understand the demographics of our surrounding area, and review how best we can be considerate and proactive with our communications to be more inclusive.

“Seeing our work to attain Level 1 put into action has been extremely rewarding, and we are luck to have support form some great organisation who we’re continuing to work with.

“Going forwards we plan to elevate the Club Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer role on to the board, to ensure equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of all decisions and matters at the highest level of the football club.

“We hope our participation in the award will inspire other organisations to do more with equality and inclusion, and we of course are more than happy to support them if called upon.”

“As a club we are excited to move on to the next level of the Equality Charter Award, as we look to really embed our learning into the ethos of our club. A massive thank you goes to the Sussex County FA for supporting us on our journey so far!”

Club Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Gayle Stephenson, added: “As a club over the past year we’ve worked very hard in ensuring that all of our players, parents, supporters and clubs we come into contact with are aware of the efforts we are making to become more inclusive.

“We’re proud of the way this has been received by our community, and we’ll continue to learn and share the message across our club. In the ever-evolving world in which we live, we know how important it is for us to lead the way for the generations to come.”

Finally, our Development Manager, Jade Harker, commented: “I am so pleased with how many clubs have signed up to complete our Equality Charter Award, and I’m thrilled with the work that Burgess Hill Town Juniors have completed on their journey to become the first Sussex club to complete the Level 1 stage.

“I have seen first-hand how the entire club is working together to make football a more inclusive and welcoming place and it is truly inspiring - congratulations to them, they should be rightly proud of themselves for their fantastic work so far and we look forward to supporting them to achieving the next level!”

If your club would like to get involved, then simply click the button and complete the attached form.

To contact the Development team for further information, please contact:

Development
T: 01903 766855
E: Development@SussexFA.com