npower and Football League Launch Home Town Heroes

npower and The Football League have launched  ‘Home Town Heroes, a new community initiative that aims to put the power into the hands of the fans.  The £2 million 2m Home Team Heroes initiative - which will be run over the course of the three year sponsorship - will ask communities around the UK’s 72 Football League grounds to vote on how this money should be spent, in order to make the most impact in their local area.
Communities can choose from one of three projects for children:
• A ‘respect’ training workshop for ten year-olds run in schools with a focus on team work and citizenship
• Football skills training for 4 - 6 year-olds run by the club’s community coaches
• Improvement/clean up of a local park into a more football friendly space
The public will have until the end of December to decide and then each Football League club will work with npower to implement the project their fans have selected, before the end of the season.  The 72 clubs will be supported in this initiative by The Football League Trust which oversees the League’s community and youth development programmes
Fans can cast their votes by clicking onto the npower website, texting; filling in postcards at their local Football League club or one of npower’s touring event stands in the local area; or by logging onto their club’s official website.
Volker Beckers, RWE npower’s CEO, said: “This scheme is all about giving power to the fans. As a new sponsor, we didn’t want to come in with a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Instead, we’re asking the communities around each club to vote and tell us which option suits them best.”
Greg Clarke, Chairman of The Football League, said: “Football League clubs are an integral part of their local communities, demonstrating that football has the power to make a difference to peoples’ lives.  Whichever project each community votes for - be it respect workshops, football training or the improvement of local playgrounds - our clubs will be actively engaging with local children to encourage them to get involved in football.”
npower’s home team heroes programme aims to engage over half a million children over  three years. Fans can vote for their club to run one of the three options in their local area.. Voting will take place during November and December by one of the following methods:
• Completing postcards available from each Football League club
• Texting - free text to 81000 with club name and project choice i.e. respect, playground or coaching
• npower Website - the public can log onto www.npower.com/hometeamheroes to vote
• Email - email hometeamheroes@npower.com with club name and project choice i.e. Respect, Playground or Coaching