Raffi Coverdale was approached by Social Services to help devise a pilot scheme which would deliver The FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice Guide not only to children in foster care, but also to the natural children of parents who foster.

“It’s a far-reaching project which will use football as the theme to deliver the training to the children,” she says. “We will broaden the content of The FA’s guide to deliver key messages to around 50 children who have been invited to take part in the day.

“Children of the families that are fostering need to be able to understand what abuse is and what might have happened to the children who are coming into their home. They also need to know how to protect themselves from abuse and how to minimise the risk of allegations.

“Ipswich Town’s Portman Road ground will play host to the children on 27 July. We will split them into two groups and they will alternate between fun-based football activities, and learning from The FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice Guide,” Raffi adds.

“One of the main messages we will be getting over during the day is that there is not just one type of abuser.”

Rachel Tarr, The FA’s Child Protection Manager, says that the whole day should turn out to be an exciting opportunity for everyone involved.

“A lot of thought and structure has gone into the day, and once the children have had a chance to reflect on what they have learnt, it will be great to hear back from them on exactly what they found particularly useful.

“We can then assess how useful they have found the given information, and how we can develop that to be even more specifically targeted at children in the future,” she adds.

The day will be rounded off with a presentation of certificates and prizes of kitbags sponsored by the Suffolk FA.

For further information , email Raffella@btinternet.com or telephone 01603 879 140