AFC Fylde Community Foundation are delighted to confirm the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer, Chris Brannigan.
Chris has made the move to the official charity of AFC Fylde from Fylde Rugby Community Foundation. He has over a decade of experience in this industry which the Foundation believes will be pivotal going forward.
As a Fylde resident, Chris already has a great understanding of the community we have here as he takes over from Wesley Partington, who served for four years as CEO at the Foundation - leaving the charity in a great position for Chris to kick on with.
As CEO, Chris will oversee our influence within the community continue to grow in all areas - such as, football development, health and wellbeing, employment and education & community engagement amongst all ages.
One of the first things Chris wanted to do as he starts his new role was sit down with our media department and introduce himself to the community he will be serving and ensure a smooth and seamless transition.
Chris said: "It's great to be here at Mill Farm and finally start within the Foundation.
"I am a very proud Fylde Coast native, so the opportunity to work with the Fylde Coast community and the people that I know and the community that I live in was hugely appealing to me.
"Although I've not been here in recent years, I have kept a keen eye on the developments of the Foundation and I've seen how that has really come on over the years and the opportunity to play a small part in that and drive where we're going over the next few years was something that I couldn't turn down."
This isn't new territory for Chris as he has experience in various different positions across a long period of time - leaving him perfectly equipped to take on this new challenge.
Chris went onto say: "My previous experience is through a world of sports coaching, sports development, community engagement and that's been for well over a decade now.
"I've been fortunate enough to work in a number of environments and sports up and down the country, across the country and further afield.
"I've been able to take a little bit from those environments, diverse environments and bring those back to the Fylde coast and hopefully use those to the betterment of the Foundation and the local community."
It is an exciting time ahead for the Foundation as we look forward to launching our new three year strategy soon - something Chris is keen to start working on.
He mentioned that: "A very short term aim would be to ensure a seamless transition of Foundation leadership, which will benefit our staff, partners, trustees and our beneficiaries.
"We'll then be able to review some of those community and stakeholder consultations that we've recently had which will allow us to explore ways we can develop our services and offerings - and with those that will help us with launching our new strategy, which is going to be a three year strategy, focusing our ambitions of the next three years on how we will serve the people of the Fylde Coast and how we intend to do that.
As Chris mentions below our 2023 Impact Report shows the influence we have on the Fylde community and we want to continue to grow that influence and maintain our support system for anyone and everyone that requires our services.
He said: "It's extremely important [that our influence within the community continues to grow] because as our 2023 Impact Report shows, our services and the Foundation provides a lifeline to thousands of residents within Fylde each year.
"As those relationships progress they will only deepen and the need for our services to develop will increase. As we know, communities themselves are extremely dynamic so we as an organisation must match that.
Chris wanted to emphasize that just because we are the official charity of AFC Fylde Football Club, doesn't mean the only service we offer is football.
He proudly stated: "We offer more more than just football. We offer areas of support in various categories, such as community cohesion, school services, skills and education and also football development pathways.
"Those are ultimately directed by the needs of our community and we simply hope to have a sustainable and long lasting impact on the people of the Fylde through our services that are ultimately directed by their needs and their feedback.
Everyone at the Foundation wishes Chris the best of luck in his new role and we have no doubt that the Foundation will continue to flourish under his leadership.
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