At today’ game against Grimsby we will be hosting a pre-match event to celebrate International Women’s Day.
We will be joined by guests and several speakers, and the focus of the discussion will be around ‘Equity’, which is this year’s theme for International Women’s Day.
We will have representatives from Cumbria Pride, Outreach Cumbria, Period Equality, Labour councillor Lisa Brown, Gabby Stephenson from Every Life Matters, people working with women in the asylum system, and a number of other invited guests.
Also visiting is Christine Greene, who is the chair of the Grimsby Town Supporters Trust, as well as fan director, and their Supporter Liaison Officer.
At Carlisle United we are proud to say that half of our off-field management team at the club are women.
We are seeing more and more women and girls at our matches, which is great to see.
It’s also really important to show that there are pathways for women into jobs in football, and that football is for all. That means reaching out to those who are new to football and to the club.
Working with the Carlisle United Community Sports Trust, we also need to play our part and support the community in these areas. It links into many areas like domestic violence and asylum issues faced by women. Football can make a difference.
Nigel Davidson, Fan Director, and EDI officer said: “Today, is about celebrating women’s achievements, and I’m really proud that we have a number of speakers at the event who will talk to everyone present about their successes, their hardships and also their pathways to where they’ve got to today.
“We will also be doing a follow-up after the event with some photographs and interviews with many of the attendees.”
Chief executive Nigel Clibbens said: “This is another event in our ongoing work to play our part in addressing inclusion, diversity and equality issues that affect the game, our local community, and our club.
“It also marks the start of March being the EFL’s ‘Together month’ with events to support Disability, Women’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination.
“Yesterday we welcomed a family of women and young girls to visit us. They are trying to start a new life in Carlisle coming from the war-torn Middle East via the United Nations. Carlisle United is part of community life, so it’s right that we welcome them.
“Their story is really eye-opening. It will be great to see them here for this event and then as new United fans at the game afterwards. It makes doing this work worthwhile and shows the difference Carlisle Unitec can make.”
