Chris Roberts

I am a Co-Founder of the North Wales Dragons, a not for profit Community Football Team. The team was founded following an idea to raise money for a charity called Boots for Africa which was the charity formed by the World’s Oldest Football Club, Sheffield FC. The first football match was played against the Ayrshire Outsiders suffering a 10 – 0 loss but making over £2000 for the charity. The decision to make it an annual event was taken and from there it has snowballed into something we never imagined could happen, having played nearly 100 games to date for good causes. The results have improved too. The teams, men's and now a women's team, are aged between 16 and 65, now raises funds and awareness for various causes throughout the year. We travel across the UK, having played games in Scotland, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Cardiff in the list of past and future fixtures. The team is made up of individuals from local towns who all take time away from work and family to not only play football but to help raise funds awareness for various charities throughout the year. Our success comes from helping players in getting out of their comfort zone while becoming fitter and healthier but it also comes from the charities themselves when you receive their thanks and you can see the change you have made to that cause, in action. We have become a go to contact for many wanting to start their own community- based club, guiding teams on training set up's, match day's and various other elements such as planning, organisation, health, safety and insurance. This in turn helps to generate not only more income for local business but also more funds raised for various charities. From our humble beginnings we have managed to bring a lot to the local economy, and we will hope this will continue with several projects in the pipeline.