2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT). The community programme was established through a partnership between Charlton and the Professional Footballers Associations in 1992, just as the club famously returned to The Valley and became a registered charity in 2003.
It started with one member of staff, a bag of footballs and a telephone. But now the community programme has grown into a pioneering and award winning charity employing 100 staff and reaching thousands of people every week across South East London, Kent and beyond.
The reach and range of the trust’s work is huge. It includes initiatives to educate, promote health, find employment opportunities, help those with disabilities, include young people, promote inclusion and equality and much more.
Just in the last few years, CACT has been crowned the English Football League’s Community Club of the year three times and even been acknowledged internationally through its ground breaking work in South African townships in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup.
In 2012 CACT began to deliver youth services in the Royal Borough of Greenwich: the first football charity to do so. It continues to partner with local authorities, other charities, local businesses and partners to deliver its pioneering work.
CEO Jason Morgan has been with the trust from the start. Speaking about CACT’s 25th anniversary said: “I’m immensely proud to see how far the community programme has come in the last quarter of a century.”
“But even as the trust has grown, our core aim to use the power of football and sport to engage individuals and have a positive impact on their lives has never changed.”
“I can’t wait to spend this year celebrating the great work the trust does as well as looking to new opportunities in the future.”
CACT have unveiled a special logo to commemorate their 25th anniversary and a series of exciting events for the year will be revealed soon.