A TEESDALE charity leader has rubbed shoulders with premier league stars to mark a groundbreaking new partnership.
Forces veteran Tommy Lowther formed Sporting Force in 2015 to help get ex-service personnel back into work and accustomed to civilian life.
Premier league giants Tottenham Hotspur have now climbed aboard the charity’s efforts with the potential for 200 positions at the club to be filled by veterans through Sporting Force.
Mr Lowther, from Butterknowle, joined fellow ex-service personnel at Spurs’ Enfield Training Centre to launch the partnership – meeting England stars Harry Kane and Dele Alli alongside manager Mauricio Pochettino.
He said: “The Spurs thing is massive for us – we’ve been working with them for quite a few months and the relationship has developed over time with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.
“They’re playing at Wembley until the new stadium gets built but when that happens they need staff in there – they’ve approached us with 50 jobs and they’ve offered up to 200 if it goes well.”
If it comes to fruition, Mr Lowther believes the scheme would be one of the biggest veteran recruitment drives taken on by any organisation.
“It would mean 25 per cent of the whole workforce would be veterans – it’s just incredible.”
Mr Lowther met the Spurs squad and manager as well as Spurs clubman Ledley King, who has become an ambassador for Sporting Force.
He added: “It was a really good experience – they were having a light training session and you realise there’s no real difference between the craic you have with lads in Sunday league and the professionals.
“Dele Alli was rolling around on the floor wrestling with someone and the manager was running around telling him not to get injured.
“The whole day was really successful and the club have been absolutely fantastic – they’ve brought us in with open arms.”
Sporting Force have ties with Everton, Chelsea and Middlesbrough as well as a raft of other sporting clubs to help get armed forces veterans into employment.
Mr Lowther decided to channel his efforts into the charity after suffering the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following his time in Northern Ireland, Iraq and a spell in the Metropolitan Police.
From humble roots, he has seen Sporting Force grow and pick up several awards in the process. And the charity team will see if it claims another accolade in April at the Soldiering On Awards.
Mr Lowther added: “It’s like winning a BAFTA for us as there are thousands of nominations. Just to be considered is amazing in itself.”
The charity will be up against two others in the Community Impact to Veterans category on April 20.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
