EFL Week Of Action: The Tigers Trust launch The Boot Room

 

The room was opened earlier this week by Ryan Longman and Sean McLoughlin at the Tigers Trust Arena before the players attended the EFL Kids Cup Local Final.  

 

The Boot Room idea started last year when a group of girls, led the Trust's Social Inclusion Team Leader Ellie Tanser, decided that they wanted to prevent any barriers from individuals wanting to participate in sport.  

 

The girls wanted to highlight that sport is for everyone and that any barriers to participation, such as not having the right kit, should be eradicated. 

 

From this, the girls collected over 100 pairs of football boots and cleaned them at the Tigers Trust Arena with the help of Matt Ingram and Richie Smallwood as part of the 2022 EFL Week Of Action.  

EFL Trust Chair Liam Scully highlighted the importance of the initiative last year when he said: "The project that we have in Hull was a very, on the scale of things, simple one; it’s the fact there wasn’t enough footwear, and it was a barrier to participation." 

 

In October 2022, the Tigers Trust then welcomed down Greg Docherty and Sean McLoughlin, as well as volunteers, to clean donated boots.  

 

This event also included a stage in which the players relaced the boots as part of the Rainbow Laces campaign to raise awareness and visibility for LGBTQ+ people in sport.  

Speaking about the launch of The Boot Room, the Trust's Marketing and Communications Lead Olly Burdett said: "We are extremely delighted to now have a room dedicated towards our boot initiative. 

"We were unsure of how many boots we'd receive at the start of the campagin, but the response has been incredible and it has meant that we've now been able to transfm one of our changing rooms into The Boot Room." 

 

The Tigers Trust would like to thank everyone who has donated towards The Boot Room so far, your contributions will make a huge difference to the health and wellbeing of the Hull and East Yorkshire commmunity. 

 

The Trust are also extremely grateful and thankful to local software company Sauce who donated £1,000 towards The Boot Room last month.