Bohemian FC went back to the top of the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland top flight on Friday and they scored another major win this morning as they launched a new five-year Football Social Responsibility Strategy, the first of its kind here and right on the cutting edge of what is happening in sport across Europe.
In typical Bohs fashion, the introduction to the strategy is framed as ‘What’s the Suss?’ before introducing the five key pillars where the club is looking to make a real difference locally and on a much broader global stage.
Health and Wellbeing; Rehabilitation; Education and Empowerment; Anti-discrimination and Inclusion; and Climate Justice and Sustainability are the five themes and the strategy provides a roadmap as to how the club can tackle each.
“We have been engaged in numerous programmes and initiatives to improve our shared society for many years,” said Chief Operating Officer Daniel Lambert in his introduction.
“We have worked with many different organisations but this is the first time that we have a dedicated staff and a clear strategy to help us improve as many lives as possible.”
“We have listened to our stakeholders and reviewed the needs of our communities, and the challenges they face, and we have put together a plan to help them.”
The club has appointed a first for Irish Football in James Flanagan in the role of Football Social Responsibility Manager. Working alongside Sean McCabe, Head of Climate Justice and Sustainability, they have the energy to really make an impact in so many of the areas that sport at times nods towards with well-meaning phrases but which, when executed properly can be of real importance.
Next week we will look at each of the five areas in turn, as we announce details of this year’s Sport for Business Sport for Social Good event and report in partnership with Allianz.
The strategy does not only list the challenges but also addresses how they will be tackled.
They have five pillars of how to do it from engaging their communities and building capacity, to Communicating clearly, monitoring and evaluating as they go, and making sure that everything is done according to the right standard of Governance and safeguarding.
Today’s launch had input from the Liverpool FC Foundation which has mentored and invested in the programme as the result of an anonymous donation a year ago that asked them to assist Dublin clubs. That’s the kind of multi-club model that does not come with any strings attached.
We heard emotional testimonials from those who have seen at firsthand the impact which football can have and that Bohemians has had.
The Government is involved and Minister for Inclusion Roderic O’Gorman was there to confirm his support.
“Bohemians are a great club, not just for what they do on the pitch, but for the values they hold off it,” he said. “They work to make sure that everyone is welcome, regardless of their background.”
A special day today and plenty more to come.
