Glentoran FC is delighted to announce the appointment of Darryl Forsythe to the role of Head of Glentoran Social Partnership.
Darryl has completed a handover from Karla McDermott who held the role for a number of successful years. Our thanks to Karla for her unwavering commitment to the club and local community. Darryl will continue to strengthen the existing links between the Glentoran Social Partnership and the Rio Ferdinand Foundation as well as implementing the clubs overall corporate sustainability programme.
Darryl comes from a community background with 20 years’ experience working in radio, recording studios, live events and with 5th Element Charity. He spoke of his new role at the club: “I have always been passionate about serving the community. It’s extremely rewarding offering opportunities and equality for social justice and social mobility for people of all ages and ethnicities. The prospect of working for the Rio Ferdinand Foundation in collaboration with Glentoran Social Partnership is dream role for me.”
“My association with Glentoran goes back to my early childhood when I first moved to Belfast from Johannesburg, South Africa. My father grew up near the Oval and Glentoran has always been a part of our family life. I attended many great games at the Oval as a youngster, alongside my father, cousin's and uncle's and even had a brief spell as a youth playing in the academy. This early connection with the football club inspires me in my new role to contribute to the history and success of such a prolific community and club. I also grew up supporting Manchester United and Rio Ferdinand was most certainly a childhood hero of mine. To be offered the opportunity to work for his foundation is dream come true and in these early stages I'm still coming to terms with it.”
Club Secretary and General Manager Jo McColgan said, “Darryl has a proven track record of successfully delivering initiatives in the local community and his knowledge, network and passion make him the ideal person to lead the Glentoran Social Partnership forward.”
Darryl said, “It excites me to work closely with the club to secure funding and strong relationships for our local community and partners. I aim to deliver projects that will help create opportunities and support for our community and club. I worked alongside Karla McDermott and was inspired by her efforts at Glentoran and her passion for helping the local community. I aim to continue with the great projects she developed and delivered. Hopefully I can add even more value to the social programmes in near future by connecting with those in the local community. There’s no doubt there will be many challenges ahead, but the prospect of building something bigger and better within our community is my motivation.”
Darryl will be contacting all of our Glentoran Social Partnership partners as he settles into the role, but welcomes anyone who wishes to speak with him to contact socialpartnership@glentoran.com
