'We want more women at our football matches'

Bradford City FC's community arm has teamed up with a charity to encourage more women, girls and people from diverse backgrounds to go to football matches.

The partnership with Yorkshire Women's Forum, which is based at Manningham Mills, kicks off with a special fashion show later in the summer at the club's Valley Parade ground.

Everything featured on the catwalk will be created from upcycled materials, and will be made and modelled by women who use the charity's services.

Lizzie Saunderson-Trowell, chief operating officer at Bradford FC Community Foundation, said the partnership was aimed at showing that football "isn't just about football on the pitch - it's about bringing people together".

She said the collaboration was driven by a need to better reflect the city's communities.

"The club carries out surveys every year to find out what the fan base demographics are," she explained.

"And we found there is a bit of a limitation on female representation and from communities that aren't white British.

"So it's really important for us to engage with the community through different avenues to show that, actually, football isn't just about football on the pitch. It's so much more than that."

She added that the new partnership came about after seeing the work of the Yorkshire Women's Forum first-hand.

"I saw the amazing workshops that they were delivering, and we just felt it was a really natural fit for what we were trying to develop."

Tanu Patel, a director at Yorkshire Women's Forum, said the project was about making football more inclusive.

"It's particularly special because Bradford City Community Foundation has actually actively gone out to involve the Asian community within the work that they do," she said.

"And it's also because we're bringing in not just women, but brown women and all women. And the idea is to say that the football club is open to everybody, not just for those who come to watch football."

The fashion show later in the summer will showcase the work of the forum's Sewcialise project, which focuses on textile recycling and upcycling.

"We have been working on a fashion show which is made from fabrics rescued from landfill and backs of people's cupboards, and we hope to put forward an amazing show."

The event, which will be hosted in Valley Parade's conferencing suites, marks the first step in a wider partnership focused on sustainability and community engagement.

Both organisations hope the initiative will help reshape perceptions of who football in Bradford is for, and will encourage new audiences through the turnstiles

"The football club are really passionate about the sustainability agenda," Ms Saunderson-Trowell said.

"It's about giving the community opportunities that then feed back into the wider network."

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