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I have started a thread before on the excellent work being done by the Football in the Community Team, which does not get enough publicity.  Fund-raising to support the pioneering link between STFC and the city of Livingstone in Zambia - providing coaching for girls and boys, training for community and youth leaders, and providing great support to youngpeople in the city - continues with the auction of a signed England shirt from 2009 on EBay.  (The last item, a signed STFC 2012 shirt raised nearly £150 - we can do better than that!!)  Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251075639390

Go for it, and add your support to another brilliant aspect of the club's community commitment.  There are only a tiny number of clubs doing this kind of international work.

It's good stuff that they're doing with the Zambia Appeal.  Are you involved in it at all RWB?  A colleague of mine is and I played in the 6-a-side tourney a few weeks ago, they seem like a good bunch running the FitC.

I am indeed (from the outside at the moment), helping with the development of the project into a wider community link.  They are really good people, led by Clive Maguire and Jon Holloway - deeply committed to community development and support both in the Swindon area - countless schools, work with people with disabilities, older people, and always looking for new opportunities.  The Zambia link is almost unique.  Charlton have a very long-established and excellent project in South Africa, but their community trust is a very much bigger operation than Swindon's.  Southampton are just beginning to look ay an overseas link, as are Bournemouth.  One or two other clubs are involved with coaching overseas, like Brighton, and there are a number of organisations - eg Coaching for Hope, Tackle Africa - which run coaching/community development  schemes and take volunteer coaches from league clubs.  But Swindon and Charlton are the only two that I know of which have committed themselves to an ongoing partnership in one (or in Charlton's case a group of) communities.

How many did you score?

Joint top-scorer Joycie.  8)

There's a curry night at the Bombay Lounge in a couple of weeks with half the takings going to the Zambia Appeal. I suspect that I'll do my bit for the Zambians there!

26 June..... Hope I will get to meet you TimmyG ..... so far I remain unknown outside this site, and wouldn't mind meeting a few fellow TEF-ers!!