[Archived] Jason Roberts Foundation

[roversmum]

I thought this topic deserved a thread of its own.

Noticed on the Official Site this article about "The Jason Roberts Foundation"

from Official Site article:

The Jason Roberts Foundation has been founded to help disadvantaged children to use football to become healthy, responsible, valuable members of the local society and to create a positive outlook in their lives.

I've long advocated that something needs to be done to held disadvantaged children in sport and also dance. Many children suffer from being unable to afford to partake of such activities - it's not just the payment for sessions but equipment as well. I remember well the tale from Dwight Yorke's autobiography about how he bargained with a bemused shop owner to provide him football boots in exchange for (I believe) him performing 100 "keepy-uppies" which he managed with ease and then the shopkeeper doubled the target and Dwight managed that too on which he got his boots!

There must be many children out there who would dearly love to take part in organised football training but for various reasons cannot do so. Sometimes it's a case of actually getting to and from the venue, sometimes the cost, often both.

I don't think I will be able to attend Jason's launch evening on Tuesday 1st May in the Red Rose Suite at Ewood but I hope some of you will.

[Kiwiwannabe]

In case you haven't spotted it on the official website or in the media, tonight is the launch evening of the Jason Roberts Foundation. Jason set up the foundation while he was out injured and it would be great to see many Rovers fans there to support him.

Tuesday, 1st May

6.45pm for 7.15pm

Red Rose Suite (Blackburn End), Ewood Park

The Jason Roberts Foundation has been founded to help disadvantaged children to use football to become healthy, responsible, valuable members of the local society and to create a positive outlook in their lives.

Jason will host the launch of his Foundation and will talk about his career and aims for the Foundation.

Evening will include a charity auction featuring sports memorabillia such as Jason's semi Final signed shirt and many other collectables.

The profits of the evening will be donated to The Jason Roberts Foundation.

Tickets only £10

(inc. 2 drinks vouchers, finger buffet and canapes)

Dress Code: Smart Casual

If you would like to go to the event tonight you can call Jennifer Whalley at Rovers on 01254 296267 or [email protected] and she will put your name on the list and you can pay for your ticket on the door.

[LeftWinger]

When I first read the title I thought he'd brought out a new range of make-up

[Roost]

When I first read the title I thought he'd brought out a new range of make-up

[Guest shoppybrfc]

I hope Jason wont be teaching them the art of the first touch and how to finish one on ones'

[philipl]

Well done Jason Roberts!

[Kiwiwannabe]

The vitalfootball website seems to have a bit more information about tonight from the club's press release: The Jason Roberts Foundation on vitalfootball.co.uk

(not sure why the club didn't manage to get as much information on its own website )

Anyway, it seems there will be plenty of support for Jason tonight with Mark Hughes, Andy Cole, Cryille Regis (Jason's uncle) and the High Commissioner of Grenada attending. Jason will be going back to Grenada over the summer with some of the Rovers' coaches to run football clinics for hundreds of children. Following on from a successful pilot scheme in the Harlesden area of London (where Jason grew up) he will be running coaching clinics across the UK later in the year.

[roversmum]

Er - I already posted a thread about this on 23rd April and it sank to obscurity

Must admit I was disappointed by the response (NIL) and hope people will be supporting Jason.

[Kiwiwannabe]

Sorry roversmum, I did have a look back over a few pages to see if anyone had mentioned it before, but I didn't spot your thread.

Only a handfull of Rovers fans were there last night, but it was a really good evening. Jason introduced the Foundation and showed a video of the scheme already running in north London. It was great that three kids from that initial pilot scheme were at the event too. It was also good to see Mark Hughes, Tom Finn, a few of the players (Reid, Nelsen, Gallagher, McCarthy....) as well as some of the Rovers directors supporting Jason.

There was a lot of good items in the auction, so hopefully a lot of money was raised. There was a very funny bidding war between Roberts and Benni McCarthy over a signed Andy Cole shirt. Cole was standing next to McCarthy, so the pressure was on Benni!

There is now a website for the foundation: www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com

Good luck Jason and I hope Rovers fans will support his great work (especially when the scheme starts for kids in Blackburn later in the year).

[Tris]

It may not be his main intention, but the work Jason Roberts is doing in North West London is certainly helping the profile of Blackburn Rovers in the area.

I arrived early for a 5-a-side game last night at Goals Soccercentre at Alperton (nr Wembley) and was warming up - wearing a Rovers shirt - on an empty pitch. On the next pitch a guy was running a coaching session for a few kids. Between drills he shouted over and pointed the rovers shirt out to the kids.

Turns out this guy is a coach for the set up Jason Roberts has established to help the locals in the disadvantaged areas of Stonebridge Park / Harlesden, and a few of the kids he was with yesterday are benefitting from it too. He joked that Jason is so generous with handing out signed Rovers shirts that kids all over Harlesden are wearing them.

This rings true with what a colleague has told me, who lives on the same street as JR's family in Neasden (also near Wembley), where there are also Rovers shirts much in evidence.

It's not about to boost the gate at Ewood, but good on Roberts for going that extra mile to help out in areas where help is welcome.

[roversmum]

Thanks for that, Tris. I was feeling a bit down and your story has cheered me up a great deal! Well done Jason!

[bblue]

Sounds like a great initiative, well done to him!

[rover_groo]

Nice work with that one Tris. It ssems to be a very worthy cause and provided that JR is here come the end of the season, do you feel that we could work towards generating money to this charity for the usual 5 a-side football competition? Like last season over £700 was raised for Scope after expenses from the JJB was taken out of it.

Could be an idea and give his foundation a huge boost and also lift the profile of the football competition and in doing so ensure a better structure of the event, with updated tables of each group and leading goal-scorers.