Perfect pitch

Tim lives in Yate; he has many interests, but his biggest passion is football.  He supports Manchester United and Bristol Rovers (he plays for their Ability FC, a team for people with learning disabilities and physical disabilities) and he’s often seen cheering on his local team Yate Town.

Tim has a flat with its own garden, with two sets of goalposts (one at either end), and he loves having a kick about whenever he gets the chance.

During the lockdowns of the past two years, Tim wasn’t able to do many of the other activities that he enjoys, so he played football in his garden even more often, which meant that garden got muddy – and so did Tim, and of course his flat could get messy when he came back in.

The staff team that supports Tim talked to him about the possibility of getting some artificial grass laid in the garden.  It would provide a high-quality surface for Tim to play football on and would also mean no more mud.  Tim thought this was a good idea.

Artificial grass doesn’t come cheap, so Tim’s support team got in touch with the Trust’s fundraising team to work out how we could raise enough money. After a lot of work, we were awarded grants from the Quartet Stoke Park Fund and Yate Town Council’s Covid-19 Battle Fund; and with additional contributions from Tim’s family and the Trust’s own internal bequest fund, we had the money we needed.

The artificial grass was laid by Portishead-based company Uppergrass, who did a fantastic job. Tim and his parents were absolutely thrilled to see his garden transformed and Tim now goes out to play football on the grass every day.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible. The generosity of the funders is greatly appreciated. The artificial grass really is a wonderful surface to play football on. It looks fit for a World Cup final!

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