Altecnic, the UK’s leading provider of high-quality plumbing and heating components, is supporting local community activities in Staffordshire by sponsoring the Uttoxeter Juniors under-7s football team.
An FA charter standard club, Uttoxeter Juniors Football Club (UJFC) was formed in 1964 and the club’s 17 teams incorporate players with an age range of six years old to 18. Uttoxeter Juniors have a proud history in developing young talented footballers and every year their numbers grow. The teams play in the Burton Junior Football League and all UJFC team staff are fully trained, approved and checked against FA guidelines. Thanks to the sponsorship of Altecnic UJFC has been able to produce two teams in the under-7s age group.
Since August 2017, the under-7s black team have been managed by Mitch Stafford and Stephen Elsmore, OEM Technical Products Specialist at Altecnic. A Uttoxeter resident, Stephen asked his employer about sponsorship after finding that the club was in need of a new match day first kit and a training/away kit because there were 24 children who wanted to participate in the football games.
Altecnic and its parent company Caleffi provided sports bags with match day and training kits with an array of numbers for the children to select from for 12 kids at the end of a training session. Parents were impressed about the teams’ organisation and the kids were proud to wear the kits and especially proud of their chosen squad number, which means taking ownership of their own kit.
Says Stephen: “When we started the team, there were 24 lads eager to play and, unfortunately, we only had enough kit for 12. Participating in games and training is important for those kids, my son included, and I believe that it makes a difference in their lives as they grow up. I then thought my office would like to get involved and sponsor us in some way. So I mentioned it to Gary Perry, our OEM Sales & Technical Director, and the company sorted it out for us. It was great to see the kids’ faces when we distributed the sports bags with the kit and they were able to select the number they wanted from the ones given to us. Truly a nice time.”
Gary Perry adds: “It is vitally important that as a company that acknowledges our corporate responsibility seriously we engage with communities within our area and offer support where we can. We are delighted to be sponsoring this fine young team backed by truly dedicated and committed staff. We wish them well for this season and many more to come!”
