Following winning the Kent and South East award earlier this year, Parm will be attending the McDonald’s Community Awards national ceremony at Wembley during the FA Community Shield.

Of winning the National Award, Parm is so delighted “It is so overwhelming for me, I am privileged my hard work has been recognised. I'm a great believer that anything can be achieved if you have the passion to drive it with positive attitude, enthusiasm and the willingness to try.  'Think big goals and aim for success'!”

Natalie Curtis, Kent FA’s Football Development Officer said “I am so proud of Parm and Guru Nanak for winning this award.  The passion and drive that Parm has shown to create this opportunity to allow girls in the local area to play football has been incredible.  The ladies have just completed their first season in the South East Counties Women’s League and the club has now entered to youth girls teams in to the Kent Girls and Ladies League.  This achievement has seen the ladies integrated fully into the club and the community.  Parm has now completed her Level 1 in coaching football and other ladies are now doing theirs.  This will only create more positive female role models in Gravesend.  The FA Coach Mentor programme played a big part in getting this up and running and to see Parm rewarded for all the hours she has put in at meetings, assemblies and coaching is amazing for all those involved as well as Kent football itself.”

The Guru Nanak FC Ladies project started when they were allocated some space at Guru Nanak Sports Ground in front on the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Temple in Gravesend and found themselves training alongside the men’s and youth teams. 

Parm had a vision to create teams from 5 through to ladies to allow any local girl the opportunity to fall in love with the beautiful game.  She gave up her own time to attend school assemblies to talk to the girls about football and the club, she ran sessions for them to try and fought hard for all the ladies to get a female fit kit for their matches and training. 

The ladies set up were also part of the recent Vaisakhi celebrations, showing how well she has done to integrate her vision fully into the club. 

The ladies section is fully inclusive with players from all backgrounds and nationalities being welcomed into training and matches.  Parm is the epitome of the ThisGirlCan campaign and has overcome every barrier with a positivity and passion that is second to none.  She is now a member of Kent FA’s Equality Advisory Group and helps with our strategies to ensure the County FA is as inclusive as it can be. 

McDonald’s has been a Community Partner with The FA for 13 years, during which time thousands clubs have benefitted from this partnership. Working with the FA for the next four years, McDonald’s will be giving over 4,500 FA Charter Standard clubs with a junior team, the opportunity to order a brand new strip each season until 2018.

For further details, please contact Amy Rutland (Marketing & Communications Officer) on Amy.Rutland@KentFA.com.