Two Wolsingham organisations have benefited from SPAR’s Community Cashback initiative enabling them to chart a path to achieve future goals.
Wolsingham Wayfarers and Friday Night Football run by JH Football School and Coaching have each been awarded £500 through the scheme.
Wolsingham Wayfarers carry out a range of activities aimed at promoting walking for physical and mental wellbeing and promoting walking in Wolsingham for local economic benefits.
The group – with a committee of just six – lead a monthly guided walk, have created a family friendly circular walk around the town, maintain and improve 140 miles of public footpaths in the parish, and have overseen Wolsingham achieve status as a ‘Walkers Are Welcome’ town.
In addition, the group have produced six free walking guides for visitors to Wolsingham. SPAR’s funding will support the publishing a seventh guide which will also have a focus on Wolsingham’s rich history along its route.
Friday Night Football, meanwhile, was launched by JH Football School and Coaching to provide children aged five to 14 in rural Weardale the opportunity to access UEFA accredited football coaching.
Jason Howe, its founder, aims to have no young person held back by geography, cost, or confidence and Friday Night Football has grown rapidly with 80 children attending the sessions every week – some travelling more than 20 miles and a one-hour journey to attend.
The sessions focus not only on football skills, but also on teamwork, resilience, physical wellbeing, and social development.
SPAR’s Community Cashback initiative returned for a fifth year in 2026. Over the last five years, more than £100,000 has been donated to local organisations across the North of England through SPAR’s primary retailer, wholesaler, and distributor for the region James Hall & Co. Ltd.
Andrew Marshall, Chairman of Wolsingham Wayfarers, said: “We were on the lookout for charitable support when we discovered SPAR’s Community Cashback scheme. It is wonderful news to receive such a generous grant that will allow us to produce our seventh guide.
“The upcoming walk map will be a route around the town which will be accessible to pushchairs and wheelchairs and will take visitors around some of the historic points of interest.
“We are very fortunate to live in an area with wonderful countryside on our doorstep and it gives the charity’s committee great satisfaction to be able to help people access this. We are extremely proud that the Wolsingham Wayfarers volunteers have been able to continue this work for 32 years relying solely on the support of grant providers for funding.”
Jason Howe, Founder and Owner of JH Football School and Coaching, said: “I saw Community Cashback advertised in our local SPAR, a fantastic store we are very lucky to have in such a rural town like Wolsingham. It was amazing to receive the news, and I cannot express how much this will support us and enable to provide for the children.
“Living and working in a rural area, we saw first‑hand how limited opportunities can be for young people especially when it comes to affordable, accessible sports activities.
“The success of Friday Night Football has been incredible. High quality equipment is very costly for us as a grassroots organisation and the SPAR grant will be used to purchase valuable and essential equipment that directly supports the delivery of our coaching sessions.”
Philippa Harrington, Marketing Manager at James Hall & Co. Ltd, said: “We know our Wolsingham SPAR store is cherished by the local community, and from whichever direction you access the town, you take in stunning scenery while at the same time understand just how rural the area of Weardale is.
“It is lovely to be able to recognise two local organisations through SPAR Community Cashback, one which encourages people to get out and enjoy the great outdoors through walking, and the other which is working to make a rural area feel that bit more connected through football.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
