Across the country, opportunities for girls to play sport at a grassroots level are still far too limited. Safe, dedicated spaces for women’s teams remain hard to access, and small community clubs often struggle to provide the facilities needed for female players to stay in the game as they grow older. In the village of Caddington, Bedfordshire, Mark Sutton has been determined to change that. A lifelong supporter of the local sports club, Caddington Recreational Association, Mark has helped build it from its earliest days and watched a group of girls grow from five-year-old beginners into a tight-knit team of teenagers. Now, as they prepare to step into adult leagues, he is fighting to make sure they have a place to play.
I’ve been here since the beginning, helping to get the club off the ground. It means so much to me, and I wanted the girls to have the same opportunities and memories that I had.
But the barriers were formidable. To allow the girls to compete in adult leagues, the club needed modern changing rooms and a proper legal structure that met Football Association standards. That meant incorporating three separate entities, the charity, the clubhouse bar and the football club, and transferring a decades-old lease. For months Mark worked to find a way forward, but each route led to costs the club simply couldn’t meet. He was close to giving up when a late-night Google search changed everything. He discovered LawWorks and read about the Not-for-Profits Programme, which connects small charities and community groups with volunteer lawyers who provide free legal advice.
The legal costs were terrifying for a volunteer-run club. I tried to start the process myself, but it was just too complicated and too expensive for a small village sports club like ours. When I found LawWorks, I thought it was a long shot, but I gave it a go – and I’m so pleased I did.
Through the Not-for-Profits Programme, Mark was connected with three leading firms, Milbank LLP, Ropes & Gray LLP and Faegre Drinker, all of whom donated their time and expertise to the club. Together they helped Mark untangle decades of governance problems, trace historical trustees, and create the solid legal foundation needed to apply for funding.
The lawyers treated us like paying clients. They were professional, responsive and incredibly reassuring. It was a huge help. We simply couldn’t have done this without them.
That legal foundation unlocked the opportunity the club had been working toward. In August 2025, the Football Foundation confirmed an offer of up to £247,382 in funding towards the extension and refurbishment of the pavilion. The grant will help deliver the new changing facilities the girls need, provided the club meets key pre-construction conditions, including finalising a long-term lease with the parish council. With the offer in place and planning underway, Caddington can finally move from hoping for better facilities, to preparing to build them.
This funding is the breakthrough we needed. Now we can move from dreaming about better facilities to actually planning the build. These players have been together since childhood, and now we can plan for a women’s team right here in Caddington.
The new pavilion will be more than bricks and mortar. It will mean privacy and safety for female players, a place where teenage girls can change and compete with dignity, and a visible sign that women’s football belongs at the heart of village life. For the girls who have trained side by side since primary school, it means they can keep playing together as adults instead of scattering to distant clubs or giving up the sport altogether. For Mark, it means seeing the same community spirit that once built Caddington’s men’s teams finally extended to the next generation of women players.
Caddington’s journey shows how grants and funding can open doors, but without legal support many grassroots organisations cannot even reach the starting line. LawWorks bridges that gap, making sure local ambition is not lost to red tape.
It really was a match made in heaven. LawWorks brought together exactly the skills we needed, just when we needed them. I can’t thank them enough for making this dream possible.
Stories like that of Caddington are just one of many that LawWorks facilitates through its Not-for-Profits Programme, helping community groups across England and Wales overcome legal barriers and secure their right to opportunity and access to justice. Your support ensures that more clubs, clinics and small charities can receive this life-changing help.
Donate today to LawWorks and help the next not-for-profit or small charity secure its future.