The Big Interview: "What we want is that when people hear ‘Chester Football Club’ they have a positive association with that"
The Blues vice-chairman and Trust CEO Jim Green speaks to The Seal
When Chester Football Club emerged from the embers of the burning wreckage that was Chester City, the reset button was well and truly hit when it came to what the football club should be.
There had to be a football team to represent the city, and it had to be one that had ambition and the ability to reconnect with Blues fans old and new, and provide a foundation to build something better for future generations, one where the football club would be able to do more for its community than just provide entertainment on a Saturday afternoon.
The Blues’ motto since reformation has been simple but effective; Our City, Our Community, Our Club. It is a motto that is designed to influence every decision that is made as a football club, reaffirming its responsibilities and acknowledging everything it is to be a Cestrian.
The club cannot control entirely what happens on the pitch each and every season. That’s why they are called seasons, they come and they go and every year, however well you plan at this level of football, nothing is a given. But there are things that the club can positively impact away from the pitch on a consistent basis, aiding the city and community in which they live.
The Chester FC Community Trust sits aside from the football club, but it harnesses the power of the club and football to reach members of the community to bring about positive change in their lives. The existence of the Trust is one of the core reasons why the Blues’ main sponsors for the last 16 years, MBNA, have been so willing to continue their partnership.
But how do you measure the impact of the Trust, which moved into its permanent home at the King George V Sports Hub in Blacon back in the summer of 2023 after securing funding for the development from a number of charitable foundations, including the Westminster Foundation and the Ursula Keyes Trust?
With the ever-increasing need to prove value, the Trust, a registered charity that delivers projects across education, coaching, social inclusion and health, opted to produce a social value impact report to determine just how the Trust impacts the lives of those in the community, using the power of the Blues’ appeal.
The result? The publication of the report in January showed the Trust to deliver some £8.7m in social value for 2024/25, with £10.20 of social value being achieved for every £1 spent.
