Parents’ generosity pays for local charity to be Harpenden Colts’ shirt sponsor

PRESS RELEASE

Parents’ generosity pays for local charity to be Harpenden Colts’ shirt sponsor

Harpenden Colts announces two new shirt sponsors for 2023 to 2025 seasons: Zwift and Youth Talk
Anonymous local parents pay for young people’s mental health charity, Youth Talk, to appear on the Away shirt
Sponsorship deal means Zwift and Youth Talk logo will appear on over 1400 Colts shirts for the next two seasons

Harpenden Colts, one of the largest grassroots football clubs in the country, has confirmed two new shirt sponsors for the 2023-25 seasons: fitness company, Zwift, and local young people’s mental health charity, Youth Talk.

Zwift will be Colts’ front-of-shirt sponsor for the next two seasons on the red Away shirt. The partnership with an international fitness and cycling brand is an exciting opportunity for the club to support wellbeing within its membership and the Harpenden area. Zwift is a strong advocate for youth activity and offers free membership to its platform for under 16’s.

The Youth Talk part of the sponsorship deal was paid for by a group of parents from the Club’s older age groups who wanted to give something back to the club and community after seeing their children play for, and enjoy their time with, the club over a number of years. The group wishes to stay anonymous.

The agreement will see Youth Talk’s logo printed on the back of the red Away shirts of over 1400 playing members of the club for two seasons.

Promoting the importance of mental health among the Colts community

In addition to the shirt sponsorship, during the two-year deal Harpenden Colts will raise awareness and funds for the charity’s important work supporting the emotional and mental wellbeing of young people in Harpenden, St Albans and surrounding villages, by:

Delivering sessions for the Club’s coaches and players to help them understand what Youth Talk does, how it can help, and how support can be accessed.
Fundraising by holding quiz nights and fun runs while also promoting the importance of staying physically active and its positive impact on our emotional wellbeing.
Creating various opportunities to engage with Youth Talk and raise money at the Club’s annual end-of-season Presentation Day.

Chris Gregory, Chair of Harpenden Colts, said:

“At Harpenden Colts one of our goals is to help young people who play for us achieve physical and mental well-being through playing regular football. With over 1400 youngsters playing football with Colts – and many thousands of parents, grandparents and carers part of our wider community – this partnership is the perfect match.

“I want to say a huge thank you to the parents who approached us to suggest the idea and pay for it. Their incredible generosity will help Youth Talk raise its profile, supporting more young people in Harpenden and surrounding villages with their mental health, as well as supporting the club financially.”

David Barker, Chief Executive of Youth Talk, said:

“With demand for our services up by over 30% in recent years, and our waiting list the longest it’s ever been in our 25 year history, there’s never been a more important time to talk about mental health.

“The links between good physical and mental health are clear. We thank Harpenden Colts for partnering with us to champion our charity, raise much needed funds and awareness to help us increase the number of young people we can support.”

END

Notes to Editors

About Harpenden Colts

Harpenden Colts is one of the largest amateur youth football clubs in the UK, with over 1400 playing members between the age of 7 and 18. The Club recently created an adult team for former players still living in the area or returning to the town with a further 100 players part of this section of the club.
Later this year the new all-weather pitch at Harpenden Town FC and Harpenden Town Council, which Harpenden Colts is co-funding, will give the club a longer term, sustainable and additional local option to play football.
Every year Colts players benefit from over 50 sessions of football, through training and matchdays, provided by volunteers between September and May. Last season (2022/23) Colts provided over 5,000 hours of football to children in Harpenden and the surrounding villages.
More information at the club, or how to join – as a player or volunteer – can be found on its website: https://harpendencolts.com/

About Youth Talk

Youth Talk is a local charity who provide free, confidential counselling to 13-25 year olds who live, go to school/college or work in St Albans, Harpenden and surrounding villages. Counselling is delivered by experienced professionals and without judgment. Youth Talk’s vision is that every young person has a safe place to talk in confidence, whatever’s on their mind. For more information visit www.youthtalk.org.uk.
As a charity, Youth Talk relies on support from our community and funding to deliver counselling without charge and to help as many young people as possible.
Youth Talk has a clear five year strategy to double its service provision in line with the growing need.

About Zwift

Zwift is a global fitness company that puts the fun into indoor training. From friendly races to social rides, runs and structured training programs, Zwift unites a diverse global community in pursuit of a more fun, immersive and social fitness experience. www.zwift.com

Media enquiries

Toby Parker – communications@harpendencolts.com