Red, White and Proud
The Robins Trust is committed to improving the Cheltenham Town experience for every single fan of the club.
Our Trust joint vice chair Jenny Hancock recently took on the role of Supporter Liaison Officer, a vital conduit between the club and the wider fanbase.
As part of that role, Jenny will be updating fans on a regular basis with articles on our website and in the club's matchday programme.
Jenny can be contacted via e-mail at slo@ctfc.com and you can follow her on twitter @CheltTownSLO
Supporter activity may have been cut short this season, but there is still plenty going on at clubs up and down the country.
The Football Supporters Association (FSA) held their annual awards recently, with the wonderful work that volunteers and supporters groups being put firmly into the spotlight.
One of the winners was Villa and Proud – the official LGBTQ+ supporters group of Aston Villa, who won the Fans for Diversity award.
Villa and Proud have a mission to empower, support and build LGBTQ+ inclusion for fans players and staff at Villa – and they have had an amazing year.
In their third season, they have organised weekly virtual pre-match socials, a social media campaign to tackle discrimination, a FIFA21 tournament for 32 other groups in the FSA’s Fans for Diversity network and a panel discussion within their local community.
It is a group to take great inspiration from and learn from as we look to make our club as inclusive and as representative as it can and should be.
Today, we welcome Tranmere Rovers and in 'normal' times there would be a huge contingent of travelling fans at Whaddon Road.
Among them would have been many members of their thriving LGBTQ+ group Rover and Out.
After starting small, there are now more than 100 active members who have an active presence in the ground wearing pins and displaying banners to raise awareness of inclusivity.
As SLO and a vice chair of the Robins Trust, I have been involved in a number of online meetings with the FSA’s Fans for Diversity network in the last few months.
The running theme of those meetings is that despite football wanting to be open to everyone, there is evidence that supporters from the LGBTQ+ community do not always feel comfortable or welcomed at matches.
We all love football and no group or individual should be made to feel uncomfortable and that’s why we are working to do our bit to try and inspire change.
So, we are looking to set up our own fan-led LGBTQ+ supporter group to ensure that everyone who wants to attend a Cheltenham Town game feels comfortable doing so.
I have already been tapping into the expertise of the FSA and there is funding and further assistance available from them to make this a reality.
If you are interested in finding out more, or even want to lend a hand in getting the group going then please e-mail me at slo@ctfc.com or DM me on twitter @CheltTownSLO.
In the meantime, enjoy the match and let’s hope it’s a Good Friday