'It's a fair cop.' The reasons why I face 'arrest' by the police/ Burnley Place Brand Manager Rachel Bayley

I’m being arrested tomorrow ( Thursday, April 18th) by Burnley FC in the Community. I still have no clue as to my alleged ‘crimes’, but I will enter via the custody suite at Burnley Police Station, have my fingerprints and mugshot taken, be asked to change into ‘greys.’ Then I will be locked in a cell with my phone and laptop with the challenge to raise £2,000 within five hours. I can’t bring any outside food or drink and must take part in challenges and games to win time off my custody, food etc.

Why am I subjecting myself to this? In order to raise money for the incredible work the charity does. The Burnley FC badge is a powerful tool for the charity to do their work, but did you know that their work transcends football? The charity spearheads more than 50 community projects that span Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, the Ribble Valley, and West Yorkshire. The charity’s efforts are channelled into three key areas: football, sport and education, welfare and inclusion and community facilities. Their diverse programmes cover a wide range of issues including mental health, youth violence, cancer rehabilitation, food poverty and numerous others. We were surprised to hear that the charity have staff based directly in police custody who work with young adults, with the ultimate aim of reducing their re-offending rate and

chance of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. Simply seeing the badge can open up a conversation and allow the charity’s staff to diffuse situations and support officers.

Let’s take a look at some headline statistics from 2023:

* 42 new veterans recruited since 2023.

*Almost 800 people engaged with at Whitehough.

*Over £3 million spent on activities such as welfare and inclusion and football, sports and education.

* The launch of Clarets Rise – Cancer Rehabilitation Programme.

* Received the Sports and Alliance Award for their Schools Mental Wellbeing Project (where 80 per cent of students said they had an improved mood);

* 21 students progressed from the Player Development Centre to shadow the Burnley FC Youth Team;

* Engaged with over 373 young people and adults with SEND.

* Enough meals and food bank items were donated to feed Turf Moor’s capacity twice over.

My strategy to get myself released asap is to hold a silent auction in advance. I’m not allowed to have any money in my justgiving account when I’m arrested, so I’m noting bids now and will inform the winners on the day ( Thursday, April 18th from 8am!) that they can now pay for

their prize. YOU can bid on the following nine amazing prizes. They are:

1) Me, for a full day, at your business. Typical cost for a full-day marketing/branding/PR consultant around £500...

2) Take over my Burnley Express column for a week. Columns cannot be purchased, so please bid what you think this is worth to you. Thank you to the Burnley Express.

3) Five-minute slot at the May Burnley Bondholder event (Burnley Bondholders only) Again, this is a rare opportunity so please do bid what you think this is worth to you. Thank you to Fagan & Whalley Ltd for giving up some of their time.

4) Month-long advert on the Nybble.co.uk Ltd x TCB Digital screen on the Keirby Hotel. RRP is £400 a month...Thank you to TCB Digital for kindly donating this generous prize. (Burnley.co.uk has ads on there and they look amazing)

5) A 45-minute photography shoot with Andy Ford. A huge thank you to Andy Ford.

6) A three-minute drone video by Kev Furber, Burnley Film Studio. His drone videos cost around £600+VAT per video, so please keep this in mind when bidding. You can see his amazing work on the Burnley.co.uk YouTube channel.

7) Two pizzas and two cocktails at the new TriBeCa. Thank you Kyle Ellis

8) £250 towards your dream dress and a full VIP styling consultation with Carrie-Ann Kay, CEO of Rene K Couture Bridal. This prize is worth £500 so please bid accordingly and a huge thank you to Carrie.

9) Overnight stay with food and drinks at The Lawrence Hotel, Padiham, on a Sunday, complete with breakfast, a late checkout, two-course lunch and a bottle of wine. Value £370.

Anyone interested in bidding can email me at [email protected] to find out further details, as there wasn’t enough room in this column to explain how amazing they all are.