Bath City Community Sports Foundation has been boosted by a cash injection from the Football Conference.
Lord Richard Faulkner, a vice president of the Conference, visited Mayday Trust Park on Friday to present a cheque for £20,000 to film director and Foundation vice chairman Ken Loach.
Also in attendance were City first-teamers Mark Preece, Charlie Griffin and Aaron Brown, together with chairman of the Foundation's trustees Pete Sellwood and teaching staff and children involved in the project.
The Foundation has been a registered charity since August 2011 and sees City players visit primary schools to talk about their lives as footballers and inspire art and written work by the pupils. Players also coach local five-a-side teams and encourage more girls to start playing football.
"The work of the Foundation really makes sure that the football club becomes part of the wider community," said Loach, City's most famous fan.
"The children get a lot out of the visits from the players but the players also get a lot out of meeting and working with the children and young people too – it works both ways."
A £10,000 donation from the Conference has attracted matched funding from local sponsors The Medlock Trust, Touchstone, Curo and B&NES Council.
Sellwood said: "In just 18 months the Bath City players have made more than 20 visits to local schools and inspired hundreds of children.
"Another aim of the charity is to encourage young people to develop their football skills, so some of the footballers hold coaching sessions for older children at secondary schools and community centres throughout the city, including Southside Youth Hub and Percy Youth and Community Centre.
"The Foundation also really wants to encourage more girls to play football, so we have a dedicated team working in local schools which has been successful in getting more girls to play the game.
"We are also working with young people with learning difficulties and physical disabilities who would like to play football in the area.
"This additional funding will enable us to be able to continue working with these schools and further develop the project."
