CULTURE Warrington has won a Football Association grant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the England World Cup victory – thanks to being nominated by soccer hero Roger Hunt.
The Warrington legend put the charity forward to benefit from £1,966 as part of The FA’s “66 for 66” programme set up to mark the anniversary of the 1966 success, which Roger helped bring about as a member of the England team.
To commemorate the year when England ruled the footballing world, The FA is making 66 awards of £1,966 to projects throughout the country via county FAs to grassroots football clubs or centrally by The FA to causes such as charities which the players of 1966 support.
Roger Hunt said: “I enjoy helping Culture Warrington whenever I can and I was only too happy to nominate the charity for a ‘66 for 66’ grant.
“I thought it would be a nice way to acknowledge the charity’s interest in the anniversary of the 1966 England team’s win which is celebrated in Warrington Museum’s ‘They Think it’s all Over’ exhibition.”
The donation will be used to fund a project in partnership with Warrington Youth Club that helps explore issues which young people, particularly young women, face in Warrington today.
The project will enable girls from the club to become honorary curators of the museum and use their own ideas to select different pieces from the in-house collection which explore the themes of women in history, body image and mental health.
Their selections will be displayed in the museum’s Cabinet of Curiosities gallery, a space designed to celebrate the richness of the museum’s collections and encourage visitors to think about Warrington, its people and how they are connected to the museum.
Maureen Banner, chairman of the board for Culture Warrington, said: “I am thrilled and proud that Roger thought of us in this way and I’d like to thank him for his continued support and loyalty to his roots.
“The team here at Culture Warrington were very touched by his kindness, particularly as we are not a sporting establishment, and we’re excited about putting this money to good use on behalf of the community.
“This grant of nearly £2,000 will be well-spent in partnership with Warrington Youth Club on a project to give girls the chance to become honorary curators at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery. I hope they will really enjoy taking part.”
The official anniversary of one of England’s greatest sporting achievements, the winning of the World Cup, will be celebrated on Saturday July 30 and Warrington Museum and Art Gallery is inviting the public to mark the occasion with a visit to the ‘They Think it’s all Over’ exhibition.
Pictured: Emma Hutchinson, Culture Warrington managing director; Michelle Hill, collections and archives manager; Gemma Johnson, cultural director; Roger Hunt; and Maureen Banner, chairman of the board.
