'Til I Die

'TIl I die is a writing project which enables fans to come together to share and write stories about their club, under the guidance of a Skills for Life tutor. The aim is for these to be published in a book that will encourage community and club involvement and reading among fans. 'Til I die is the roll-out of a successful pilot at Brentford FC in 2005, which culminated with the Football League community award finalist publication Brentford ‘til I Die.

Watch a video highlighting the partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Brentford FC and Legends Publishing in the creation of a book made by the fans for the fans. Please note there are two videos on the player below. Please use arrows on the side of the player to watch Brentford 'TIl I Die.

'TIl I die is a writing project which enables fans to come together to share and write stories about their club, under the guidance of a Skills for Life tutor. The aim is for these to be published in a book that will encourage community and club involvement and reading among fans. 'Til I die is the roll-out of a successful pilot at Brentford FC in 2005, which culminated with the Football League community award finalist publication Brentford ‘til I Die.

The project runs through a partnership between the NLT, Supporters Direct (SD) and Legends Publishing (LP). Books will tell the stories of local football fans, from a range of clubs from across the country. The fans will create their contributions with help from Skills for Life tutor Steve Cowan, and the books will be compiled and edited by publisher Dave Lane of Legends Publishing.

To date there have been a series of successful books at a range of clubs produced by LP and sold by clubs and for clubs. Thanks to
funding from the DCSF, the Football Foundation, Supporters Direct and clubs' supporters trusts, we will work with eight clubs, producing 1,500 books for each. Of these, 900 are sold to pay for a literacy project for local schools and to provide some profit for the club's supporters trust. The remaining 600 books are then distributed for free to local secondary schools.

Bringing the community together

A key aim of Football Stories is to bring different parts of the community together, enabling them to work together on the project and develop their communication with each other. Parents will be welcome to the project alongside their children, enabling whole family communication and learning. Everyone will learn about each other and get to know their stories.

Local partners might include:

• The club's supporters’ trust
• The club itself (player liaison, community manager, press and marketing team etc)
• Fanzines
• Local press and radio
• Local Authority
• Local library service
• Local schools
• Local Further Education college
• The club's Playing for Success centre (if the club has one)

A copy of the book produced for Crystal Palace FC

'Til I die is an innovative and successful literacy project which has extensive benefits for whole communities. It encourages writing among participants, reading among recipients of the book, and speaking and listening as fans are inspired to share their stories with each other.