Oxford United welcome new Trust Operations Director
Oxford United are pleased to welcome Caroline Robbins to the club. Caroline joins as Operations Director of the Oxford United Community Trust.
Caroline joins the club after two and a half years at Oxford City Council, with the last 18 months of that as Youth Engagement Officer. She told us:
“I have been here for three weeks and am really enjoying it. It is exciting to be joining the club right now; there is a real positivity about the whole place from the first team right through to our grass roots community programmes. Everyone is working together and has great ambitions for the club going forward which means there are great opportunities for us in the community department, not just in Oxford but across Oxfordshire.”
Caroline will work closely with Community Manager Chris Lowes and Community Officer Ross Layton.
“They have been a big help already” Caroline told us. “We are fortunate to have so much experience around the club. Mark Ashton has run highly successful community projects at other clubs and has been hugely supportive of what we aim to achieve here, and everyone at the Academy has made me feel very welcome; there are exciting ways that we can work together in the future. What’s clear is that everyone at the club understands the importance of a vibrant Community Trust.”
There are several key areas for Caroline and her team to focus on initially.
“We are starting from a good place” she said “with four key areas of development identified: education, social inclusion, health and well-being and, of course, sport and quality coaching. What the whole package looks like is currently being worked out so over the next few weeks we will be talking to fans, partners and stakeholders to understand the landscape within which the Community Trust is working. These discussions will enable us to ensure what we offer is right for our fans, their families and the communities in which they live and work while also helping us to ensure we do not duplicate what is already out there, rather dovetail and complement existing services across Oxfordshire.
“The first couple of weeks have been spent working on things behind the scenes. We are starting from strong footings and we want to make sure everything is properly structured before we move forward. I have had great support from everyone at the club; Chairman Darryl Eales is a huge believer in getting the Community Trust right and he has been a big help. Hopefully the fans will see things starting to happen this summer and I’d love to hear their thoughts and ideas because they have a big part to play in what we want to achieve and how we achieve it.”
We are always happy to talk to fans regarding the work of the Community Trust. If you would like to get in touch then please email crobbins@oufc.co.uk or call 01865 337515.