Everybody needs good neighbours

By Maria Horner

We are about to extend an invitation to our neighbours to come and see the wonder of Sincil Bank!

Families who live around the Sincil Bank area, and from the wider area in Lincoln and who happen to be from the Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Slovakian etc (what some will refer to as the ‘Eastern European’ community)  are being invited to come and see for themselves the football club on their doorstep.

The idea is that while the children in the area may be football mad and may have been caught up in Cowley fever perhaps at school, their parents may be unsure about attending a football match here.

There may be reasons around being concerned as to the reception they may get (perhaps underpinned by unrelated negative experiences) or they could have views on football matches based on images and reports of what football is like in their country of origin – which may be very different from what football has become here in the U.K.

I don’t want those kids to miss out on what their mates at school might be experiencing when they follow Lincoln City FC. I would like to open a door and say welcome to those kids and their families in and around Sincil Bank, and the city generally.  Don’t forget many of these children may have been born in our fabulous city, and if not, certainly their living memory will be all about Lincoln.  They too are a potential new generation of Imps! 

I realise we are selling out more matches, but not every match will be.  If we can just say to the people living within throwing distance of the stadium – come and enjoy what’s on your doorstep – that can’t be a bad thing can it?  So why a special event? While many of the children will speak English as their first language, their parents may not. It’s about building those bridges and ensuring they know that Sincil Bank is a brilliant place to be for families as well as all other supporters.  
      
I’m passionate about including people, and maximising the enjoyment you get, that feeling when people come together with a shared interest – obviously in our case Lincoln City FC. It’s how L.I.S.A was born...

As an affiliate member of the Football Supporters Federation our aims also chime with the Kick it Out campaign. When the club nominated a fixture to be its ‘Kick it Out’ fixture, as many clubs do, of course I thought L.I.S.A should be doing something to promote the message.

On the 22nd March 2018 L.I.S.A, Imps in the Community, LCFC and the Lincolnshire Polish Society will open up the VIP suite and we hope many families from those communities come and find out about our brilliant club. They will have the chance to win tickets to the nominated Kick it Out match fixture on Tuesday 17th April against Wycombe.  Funding is coming from the club and the Fans for Diversity fund (Football Supporters Federation & Kick it Out).

It’s not been done before, all we can do is open the door and say, “Come in, it’s great to be an Imp!”