Lincoln City and Lincoln City Foundation are launching Attendance4Attendance - a new scheme that will reward Lincolnshire pupils with tickets to watch the Imps in action at the LNER Stadium should they achieve a good attendance at school.
Along with the Foundation, Lewis Montsma visited St Hugh’s Catholic Voluntary Academy and Ling Moor Academy to talk to pupils about the Attendance4Attendance programme along with other benefits they will receive as a partner school.
John Sisman, headteacher of Ling Moor Academy, said: “This is going to be a great opportunity for us to reward those children who have a high level of attendance and offer them the opportunity to link to the outside community.
“To be able to give more children and their families the opportunity to access football is going to be a wonderful thing for us.”
Fixtures that are eligible for Attendance4Attendance will be dotted around half-term dates so attendance awards can be handed out at the end of each academic term.
A4A gold memberships will also be provided to schools who join the programme to allow them to reward good behaviour or other reward-based initiatives.
Oxen retail discounts are an additional benefit included in the package, along with the option of either a player visit, a mascot visit from Poacher the Imp or a coaching session from the Foundation.
Mr Sisman added: “We’ll also use the Oxen partnership to be able to get some more resources to support our sports provision in school.
“There’s lots and lots of benefits to the Attendance4Attendance programme.”
City's chief executive Liam Scully also explained why the club have decided to launch this programme.
He said: “Attendance4Attendance is a hugely important community initiative, and will support our education leaders in their desire to recognise and reward positive school attendance.
"We hope it provides young fans, new and old, the chance to see their local team on several occasions within a regular session and academic year, directly linking attendance at the LNER Stadium with positive attendance at school.
"Naturally we hope to welcome many new members into the Lincoln City family through this initiative that has been co-designed, linking our own ambitions as a club, as well as recognising and playing our role in supporting the local education system."
In order to sign up to be an attendance partner school please email a4a@theredimps.com with your school's name and a contact number, and a member of our A4A team will be in touch.