Bolton Wanderers in the Community Celebrate Black History Month
Bolton Wanderers in the Community recognised Black History Month with a special celebration event hosted at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Wednesday 9th October. BWitC invited 40 pupils from across 3 schools to join us for a morning of celebrating Black History Month through the lense of ‘Reclaiming Narratives’.
The aim of the event was to enable black people to take control of their stories and honouring our heroes while challenging narratives which have often overlooked the contributions and achievements of Black individuals both in the UK and globally. Enabling young people to learn about Black history through the stories of their own communities, narratives that reflect their realities and aspirations BWitC aimed to provide a platform for educators and community leaders to engage young minds in a way that is both meaningful and empowering.
Prior to the celebration event Bolton Wanderers in the Community Staff visited local schools hosting art workshops as part of their transition support workshops. Workshops were split into two sections celebration Black history within football followed by an art workshop. During the second half of the workshop students from each school created oil pastel portraits of a significant figure or role model from Black History in the style of the artist jean-Michel Basquiat. These were then displayed during our celebration event in an art gallery style for pupils to share and celebrate one another’s pieces of work. Students voted for their favourite piece, awarding one winner from all 4 schools who took part in the workshop with tickets to a Bolton game of their choice.
We would like to thank our special guests who hosted a panel talking about their personal experiences, achievements and challenges in their life related to their sports and careers. Our panel was made up of:
Cormac Noel – an ex-pro footballer who is now BWitC’s Community Cohesion Officer.
Krishnan Chauhan – Police officer working in Bolton and sportsman who has competed in Brazilian jiu jitsu winning medals around the world including at the European championships and has qualified for World championships twice.
Abdul Khan – Undefeated boxer from Bolton.
Daniel Sukula – Be The Change was founded by Daniel Sukula who has been an active leader in youth development in Bolton since 2015. Daniel has a BA in Community Development and Youth Studies and is an award-winning youth worker and diversity champion. He is part of the FA’s Lionhearts squad of community champions.
Students had the opportunity to take part in a Q&A session asking the panel their opinions and thoughts on Black History Month and their own life experiences.
Our workshops and celebration event were a partnership between our Premier League Inspires and BL One projects lead by staff here at BWitC. For more information on our Premier League Inspires project please contact gdanby@bwitc.org.uk or for information on our BL One projects please contact cnoel@bwitc.org.uk