Coach aims to make football accessible for everyone in Cambridgeshire

Phil runs a range of disability football sessions across Cambridgeshire and is fundraising to buy specialist wheelchair football equipment to expand sessions and form a team.

Phil began coaching after a friend asked him to run a disability football club, and he felt nervous at first but quickly found the work rewarding. He now runs sessions for people with Down syndrome, people who are blind, walking football for over‑50s and sessions for people with Parkinson’s, and has coached wheelchair and powerchair football for eight years. He currently runs two wheelchair football sessions in Cambourne and at Coleridge Community College in Cambridge. He is fundraising to buy specialist chairs, transport and storage so he can run more sessions across the county. What we know: - Phil started coaching after a friend asked him to run a disability football club and found the experience rewarding. - He runs sessions for people with Down syndrome, people who are blind, walking football for over‑50s, and people with Parkinson’s. - He has coached wheelchair and powerchair football for around eight years and currently runs two wheelchair sessions in Cambourne and at Coleridge Community College. - He is fundraising on a GoFundMe page to buy specialist wheelchair football chairs, transport between venues, and storage for the chairs. - He has received one donated powerchair and salvaged manual chairs but says they are not ideal for wheelchair football. - He believes there is not currently a wheelchair football team in Cambridgeshire and hopes better equipment will help form one. Summary: The coach's work has created local opportunities for people with disabilities to play adapted forms of football and has sustained several ongoing sessions. He is seeking funds to purchase specialist chairs, transport and storage to expand wheelchair football across Cambridgeshire, with the aim of growing participation and forming a team.