Across 5 years of Happy Somedays, we have welcomed so many wonderful participants to our sessions who make everything that we do so unique.
We have always said that everyone has a story to tell, and this year we have committed to having more people from within Happy Somedays tell their story on our Podcast, as part of our ‘Participant Stories’ series.
The second episode in this series – and our 30th overall - is with a participant from our wonderful ladies provision, Hayley Shing. Hayley is fairly new to Happy Somedays, having only joined in April 2024. Previous to being involved with ourselves, Hayley was part of Wythenshawe FC (Formerly Amateurs) Ladies, but an injury ended her involvement with them. After some time away from football, she got an itch to return but wanted to do so in a non-competitive, nonjudgemental environment and decided Happy Somedays was the one for her.
She has involved herself in every aspect since then, and has been rewarded by being recognised as “Participant of the Year” at our annual awards night in 2024.
Hayley is also involved with other volunteering aspects, including “Friends of Rose Vale Park” and as a leader for Heald Green Scouts, both of which she delves into further within her podcast. Hayley also details her Chinese heritage, as she is British born Chinese, and spent some of her youth living in Hong Kong where she picked up her love of football and sports in general. She also had a very unique way of learning Cantonese! Listen out for how she did that…
To find out more about Rose Vale Park and the projects Hayley is involved in, check out their Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/RVPhealdgreen) and if you know any young people who may want to involve themselves with Scouts, check out Hayley’s group that meet in Heald Green. More information can be found at https://2ndhealdgreen.org.uk/
If you want to be a guest on our podcast, please do reach out! Find us on Facebook, Instagram and X or email us happysomedaysfootball@gmail.com
Chapters:
00:00 – 01:15 – Intro
01:15 – 02:35 – Thanks for reaching out
02:35 – 03:35 - “I’malways busy!”
03:35 – 07:50 – Volunteering and Friends Of Rose Vale Park
07:50 – 09:45 – Landscape Architecture Background
09:45 – 18:10 – Involvement With Scouts
18:10 – 21:40 - Hayley’s Hong Kong Heritage
21:40 – 25:30 – “Girls Aren’t Supposed To Play Football…!”
25:30 – 28:55 – Joining Wythenshawe Ammies
28:55 – 33:30 – Leaving The Ammies, Finding Happy Somedays& Falling Back In Love With Football
33:30 – 37:40 – Final Thoughts, Thanks and End