At the end of Burnley’s final game of the season (2013) against Ipswich, Danny Ings went over to one of his young fans, Joseph Skinner, and gave him his football boots. The thirteen year-old fan who has cerebral palsy, is a keen football player himself and trains with the Bolton Bullets Powerchair Football Club. He hopes to manage his own team one day.
The event left Danny inspired and led him to start the Danny Ings Disability Sports Project. Danny is funding the project but will deliver it with the help of with Burnley FC. The project aims to provide free football coaching to children in all the seven Special Educational Needs Schools in the Burley, Pendle and Rossendale region. They plan to establish Burnley’s first ever adult disability football team and to compete in the north-west league, host weekly wheelchair football sessions at Turf Moor and have a pan disability session. On Tuesday (25/11/14), he attended the projects’ launch at Ridgewood Community High School in the Lancashire town.
For updates on the project, please follow @IngsDanny on Twitter, check the website http://www.burnleyfccommunity.org/health/danny-ings-disability-sports-project/ or email community@burnleyfc.com