International Women's Week 2022: Leanne Carey

We are continuing our International Women’s Week series by hearing from Leanne Carey, who is a new member of our Strategy and Governance Committee, and a long-standing volunteer. She begins by telling us about her history of being involved in FC:

“I’ve been following FC since the inaugural season of 2005. My first-time volunteering at the club was after I came back from a stint of travelling the world and I was unemployed. I helped out in the former HQ of Hope Mill with processing memberships and season tickets and wrote articles for our community work for a short period of time.

In more recent times, I’ve also been involved with fundraising for the club. I ran the Manchester Marathon about 5 years ago, raising over £3000 for the Development Fund. I also raised money for our former player, Alex Curran, when he suffered a horrendous injury, which helped him when he wasn’t earning in his day job. I’m currently involved with helping the FC Uth and you might recognise me from looking after the ball crew on match days, as well as other events throughout the year. I have also joined the new Strategy and Governance Committee”

When asked about what it’s like to be female at a non-league football club, Leanne said:

“I haven’t personally felt any issues being a female at FC. I’ve always felt part of the club and I’ve always felt very welcomed at the club”

She has seen some change during her time being involved with FC:

“I think the management and board roles have been very top heavy with males for many years. I think in the last few seasons, you’re starting to see more females being involved with the office side, but less so on the board side”

Leanne also talks about how she thinks we can attract more females to join FC:

“I think as a club we are very open to females to join, and most times its individual choice whether they come to a game. As a club in a local community, it would be worthwhile to advertise the club not just as a football stadium, but a place to come and socialise, day and night. Any volunteer role I’ve held, I’ve always been made welcome and I would hope other females would feel that what they can bring to the club is vital and worthwhile”

Talking about her new role on the Strategy and Governance Committee, Leanne discusses the gender balance and the impact she is hoping to have:

“I decided to join the Strategy and Governance Committee as by day I am an accountant, so I have the experience the committee was looking for and was happy to offer my help. There are three females in total on the committee, so we’re still outnumbered by males. However, I’m glad there are females on the committee as other committees don’t contain any females at all. After the first meeting last week, we were discussing diversity and we are very hopeful for more females to join and bring something different that we may be lacking or missing. I’m really excited to see the impact we will be able to have with our combined experience going forward!”

Keep an eye out tomorrow for another interview to continue our International Women’s Week!