Durham Women, Vision for Education and the Edwin Group held their first-ever Junior Takeover Day on Sunday, February 16 – and what a roaring success it was!
Youngsters from across the region gathered at Maiden Castle to play key roles in the Barclays Women’s Championship fixture between the Blues and Blackburn Rovers.
And they all played their part in a fantastic day on and off the pitch, as Durham ran-out 3-2 winners after a dramatic injury time winner to keep their promotion hopes alive.
Ahead of the game, Sofia Leightly from St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School designed a fantastic programme cover which featured on the front of the issue for this game – with all copies selling out on the day!
You can see that cover design and read the full issue HERE.
Then as the atmosphere built-up ahead of kick-off, we had Mercy Adedeji from Deanbank Primary School announce the team to the busy crowd. She also read out the goalscorers as the strikes flew in throughout the game.
Pitchside was Solomia Samuseiva of Stamfordham School, who captured some fantastic content for us – including a great angle of the winning goal!
You can see her footage below:
Ava Walker from Framwellgate School was in the press box compiling a fantastic match report for our official website, which you can read HERE.
Alongside her was Evie Longstaff of Acre Rigg Academy, who entertained listeners worldwide as co-commentator on Durham Hospital Radio. She even got to commentate alongside Durham first-team player Dee Bradley.
And throughout the game, Holly Easton from Belmont Community School put together some challenging questions to ask our head coach, Adam Furness. You can watch that interview below:
And to top-off a fantastic showing from all the youngsters was a group from Northern Saints Academy who provided our half-time entertainment. Olivia Connelly, Emily Hall, Taylor Fisher and Mia Newton put together a superb dance routine which they performed in front of the packed stand at half-time.
Commenting on the day, Will Washington, Chief Commercial Officer at The Edwin Group, said: “It was an absolute privilege for us to be part of Durham Women FC’s Junior Takeover Day.
“Initiatives like this are crucial in inspiring and shaping the next generation of talent. The enthusiasm, creativity and confidence shown by the young people were truly inspiring.
“We hope that their experience of the day will ignite a passion that leads to a successful and fulfilling career.”
Mark Donnelly, Chief Operating Officer at Durham Women FC, added: “This was a brilliant day for all involved and it was great to see the pupils really throw themselves into their roles.
“Hopefully they gained a lot from working with our talented staff and this will inspire them moving forward.
“We always enjoy delivering initiatives like this with Vision for Education and our partnership continues to positively impact youngsters across the North East – as it has done for over a decade.”
To find out more about Vision for Education, visit https://www.visionforeducation.co.uk/
Vision for Education are part of The Edwin Group. Find out more about The Edwin Group at https://edwin.group/