The EFL Trust Conference 2022
Monday 17 October marked the start of the 2022 EFL Trust Conference, as representatives from EFL Clubs and Club Community Organisations came together to celebrate their collective work across the country.
Burton Albion FC have been making a difference in the community, as they become a base for Prostate Cancer Screening
Burton Albion FC have been continuing in their mission to support the health & wellbeing of their community, as the club recently rolled out a fully booked prostate cancer screening for 60 men, at the Pirelli Stadium.
The screenings were done by Miss Jyoti Shah, Macmillan Consultant Urological surgeon and sister Sarah Mills, Macmillan Urology advanced practitioner. They have offered screenings in the community since 2016 and this is the second time they’ve visited the club this year.
Prostate cancer is currently the highest cancer in males. The risk of prostate cancer increases with age, with more than 52,000 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer every year and every 45 minutes one man dies from it, equalling to 12,000 men every year.
Recognising this, Burton Albion have been determined in their fight for men to visit the Pirelli Stadium, to get tested and to potentially save lives.
John, a local man who came for his check-up was pleased with his experience at the Pirelli. He said:
“I’m in my 80s now and I’ve noticed a few changes in my body and thought I should get checked up. Jyoti and the team were so welcoming and made the whole check-up very pleasant.”
Jyoti reinforced the message that getting checked is vitally important, as diagnosing prostate cancer late makes it a lot harder to treat.
“We always love coming to Burton Albion and it’s brilliant to be able to come here on a frequent basis.
“We put the call out for people to get checked a few weeks ago and we were full to the brim today. It’s brilliant to see so many people getting checked up. The checks only take a few minutes and getting it diagnosed early makes it a lot more treatable.”
Burton Albion Chairman Ben Robinson said the following:
“The partnership we have with Jyoti and her team is a vital one. Burton Albion has always put its community first and this is another example of that.
“Using the football club as a base for the screenings has made people feel a lot more confident when coming for their checks and we are delighted to provide the facilities at the stadium for this important service.”
Burton have been no stranger in using the facilities at the Pirelli Stadium to combat life-threatening health problems. Burton have now carried out over 400,000 Covid-19 vaccination jabs, a mission they set out upon back in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Click here to read more about Burton Albion’s efforts during the pandemic.
Community Rail Awards recognise young people’s campaign
Young people from Bradford have received recognition from the Community Rail Awards for their campaign on unwanted sexual behaviour on trains. Read more
Blackburn Rovers Community Trust gain recognition from local police authority for their efforts in supporting women’s safety
Blackburn Rovers Community Trust (BRCT) have recently been recognised for their efforts to raise awareness for women’s safety in the local area, by local police authorities.
The programme, ‘What About Us?’, is a female only group of 12 women, with ages ranging between 12-19 years old. The purpose of the group is to raise awareness for women’s safety, and explore the experiences and challenges presented to women living in Blackburn with Darwen.
Members of the group regularly attend weekly sessions and work together to share to the wider community their objectives for What About Us. To date, they have created leaflets, distributed questionnaires, and handed out more than 500 panic alarms during Eid in a local park earlier this year.
Feeling the ripples of the project, was Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary, Chris Rowley, who was so impressed by the initiative, that he requested to visit Ewood Park to find out more information.
The group then met up with Mr Rowley and delivered a presentation to him and several of his colleagues, demonstrating their passion and enthusiasm in tackling the issues they presented.
Mary and Grace, who both played a key role in setting up What About Us? added:
“This is what we wanted to do and get our message out there. To speak in front of the Chief Constable was an immense honour, and we are so glad the Police came to listen.
“We want all young women and girls to have the same opportunities and feel like they are being heard, and something will happen.
“For so many of us young women, the project has provided us with a platform. Moving forwards from this will now give us so many more opportunities.”
Superintendent, Andrea Barrow, was also in attendance to learn more about What About Us? She said the following:
“I was absolutely blown away with what they’ve done. Their passion for educating people about the issue and how they feel, the project is amazing. For me, as a senior police officer and a woman, I have massive empathy with how they feel. I’ve felt that many times and what they are doing is incredible.
“It’s very clear that they understand the issue and when they talk with so much passion, people listen to them. What they are saying makes people have empathy around the issue and give support.
“As a young woman, probably of a similar age to the girls, I have experienced that feeling of dread and intimidation, when I’ve seen a group of boys come towards me. The Chief Constable and I have really been affected by what we’ve seen and listened to. We want to help get the message out there and we will give this project the support.”
To find out more about Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, see here.
Blackpool Community Trust’s Sporting Memories has given Terry his enjoyment and love of Bloomfield Road back
Sporting Memories hosted by Blackpool Football Club Community Trust is an initiative for their older fan base to reminisce and discuss their beloved Blackpool FC. his social group provides the opportunity to meet new people, share stories and memories and discuss opinions.
Terry Marsden is Grandad to a member of Blackpool Community Trust’s Community Cohesion team and a regular attendee at our Sporting Memories sessions.
Born and raised in Blackpool, Terry started his life working at Play Shoe before joining the National Service in the Transport Division of the Army where he served in Cyprus, keeping the peace between Greek and Turkish factions.
After his National Service, he moved into employment at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd as a process worker but soon moved to the internal fire brigade where he drove the fire engines and ambulances.
As a youth, Terry was a huge Blackpool fan, he would head to Blackpool beach whenever Sir Stanley Matthews was training there. Often Stanley would finish his training session and join in with a football game alongside the children. All the kids loved this, and Terry tells stories about it to this day!
At age 15, Terry headed to Wembley with thousands of other Blackpool fans to watch Mortenson and Matthews create history in the 1953 FA Cup Final against Bolton Wanderers.
In 1960 he married a local woman, Margaret, and started a family in Blackpool. They now have four grown grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Over the years Terry has spent his time socialising at the Bloomfield Workingmen Club where he was a member of the darts, dominoes, and whist teams. Until recently he enjoyed playing golf in his spare time both at Blackpool Park Golf Club and Ingol.
Terry was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2020 and then COPD in 2021, both of which have negatively impacted his well-being and his ability to do the things he loves. His wife, Margaret has now had to solely take on the day-to-day running of the house, repairs, shopping cleaning etc, alongside caring for her husband and taking care of her own health concerns.
Since being diagnosed, Terry began attending our Sporting Memories sessions at Bloomfield Road, where he has spent time with new people, something that has been incredibly difficult for him during the pandemic. The sessions give him something to look forward to each week, at a place he loves (Bloomfield Road), doing something he enjoys.
Terry’s wife, Margaret, has benefitted from him attending the sessions too, she is now able to spend time working on her own mental health, making her daily chores more manageable.
If you’d like to find out more or get involved in Blackpool’s Sporting Memories group get in touch via email: [email protected] or call 01253 348691.
FIT HATTERS helps Kate return to the pitch with Luton Town Ladies FC
Adult Obesity is a growing problem across the country. As people age their lifestyles change and they tend to become less active. FIT FANS is a FREE health programme for men and women, aged 35-65 that looks to address this by helping people lose weight, get fitter and lead a healthier life.
Taking place at the Stadium, using the unique affinity people have for their team and the special emotion that fans feel for their home ground to add a bit of stardust to the activity. Funded by Sport England. FIT FANS is down in no small part, to the social aspect of the sessions. Since 2019 1,000s of Fans have lost over 18 tonnes of weight and improved their lifestyle with FIT FANS.
Luton Town are one of over 40 EFL Clubs that run FIT FANS. Each Club run the programme under their own brand – in Luton’s case FIT HATTERS.
Kate Walsh, a lifelong Luton Town fan who also plays for the Ladies’ team is a great example of how the programme works. Kate had to take an extended break from playing the game due to ill health which in turn affected her mental health and self-esteem.
Kate Commented.: “Whilst I have been overweight for many years it hadn’t really bothered me when I was active and playing football, but when I wasn’t able to play I started to feel fat and useless.”
As a season ticket holder at Luton Town, Kate was no stranger to the FIT HATTERS adverts but never considered it because of her own football career. When she knew something needed to change and she felt that this was the perfect opportunity for her.
Kate explained: “The team at Luton Town running FIT HATTERS have been amazing and because it’s my club I feel at home and very attached to the programme. I also feel very well supported.”
Having followed the programmes educational, physical, and nutritional advice, Kate is “feeling better than ever.” Kate has Type 2 diabetes which had recently deteriorated, and she was advised to begin medication but she is determined to improve her own blood glucose levels with the methods she had learnt on the FIT HATTERS programme.
FIT HATTERS has also helped Kate’s anxiety by giving her a positive focus each week, even when her life gets stressful. It isn’t just Kate who has seen the benefits but also the coaches at the Women’s Team who have been impressed with her improvements and she has been signed for the upcoming season and is enjoying playing football again.
Kate is not alone in seeing life changing results. On average women 90% of men and 85% of women lose weight during the programme with many losing a clinically significant amount (Women over 3kg and men over 5.5kg by the end of the 12 weeks). More importantly the evidence also shows that lifestyle change, and weight loss are sustained over the following 12 months.
To find out more about your nearest FIT FANS programme, please contact your local Club using the list below.
Your information will be sent to a member of staff from your chosen club who will call or email information about FIT FANS. You are not committing to joining FIT FANS just to receiving further information. Your data will not be used for any other information without you consent. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details on how we manage your data
Queen Elizabeth II: Obituary
Yesterday , the EFL Trust was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty, The Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth II, born 21 April 1926 as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, began her reign as Head of the Commonwealth and Queen Regnant of several independent countries in 1952.
Home educated, Elizabeth would go on to serve during World War II as a subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, where she reached the rank of Junior Commander. Two years after the war had ended, Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and a great-great grandson of Queen Victoria.
Elizabeth and Philips’ first child, Prince Charles, was born in 1948, before Princess Anne followed two years later. When the Queen’s youngest sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, were born in 1960 and 1964 respectively, they were the first children to be born to a reigning monarch since Queen Victoria.
However, in 1952, the death of her father, King George VI, led to her own accession to the throne, with the coronation taking place in Westminster Abbey on Jun 2, 1953.
In an unprecedented move, Elizabeth herself requested the ceremony to be broadcast not just on radio, but also on television, to bring the splendour of the event to millions around the world.
Queen Elizabeth oversaw one of the most challenging years for the Royal Family in 1992 following a major fire at Windsor Castle. In her now renowned speech to mark the 40th anniversary of her Accession as Queen of England, she described it as ‘Annus Horribilis’, which translates to ‘horrible year’ in Latin.
Pursuing a lifelong interest in sport, The Queen was at Wembley Stadium in 1966 to present captain Bobby Moore with the Jules Rimet Trophy after England beat West Germany to win the World Cup, and she attended numerous FA Cup Finals throughout her reign.
The British monarch’s traditional image was upheld to the highest regard during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, while contributing significantly to the creation of the modern role it has since become.
Growing the focus on mental health
A group of young teens from Barnsley recently set out on a project with the aim of spreading mental health awareness as well as doing their bit to help out the environment.
The project, named, ‘Roots of You’ was part of their NCS experience with Reds in the Community over the summer. NCS is a 2-week experience, where young people meet new people, take on exciting challenges and complete a social action project, allowing them to impact their local community.
The group were undecided on two passionate topics, raising awareness on mental health or helping the environment. After some planning, the group decided to merge the two areas into one project.
Abi Grant was involved in the ‘Roots of You’ project and commented:
“We chose the project because we felt that mental health is such a huge part of our lives as teenagers, and we understand that people are often scared to share their issues, so having by creating an anonymous way to help people let go was really important to us.”
With the green light given, the group came up with the idea of holding special booths in Barnsley town centre, using their innovative idea to combine both topic areas.
In the booths, members of the public were encouraged to write any stories or ongoing worries involving their mental health on special plant-seeded paper. The young people then planted the seed-paper at Deansgate Care Home, using planters that they had built and painted.
Abi commented:
“We got so many responses from people our age saying how much better they felt after sharing, and how the idea of growing something negative into something beautiful through the seeds planting, gave them a huge amount of comfort. I was so glad I was able to help.”
“Some of the admissions we got were quite heavy, but that was honestly the most amazing part, as people felt ready to let go of those feelings and allow us to create something meaningful out of it. I felt so privileged to have been able to help people around me in such a big way.”
As well as planting new seeds, the young people also supported the overall renovation of Deansgate Care Home to make it a much nicer space for the residents to enjoy.
Not stopping there, the group decided to use their techy-savvy expertise by creating a Google Document and a TikTok page, encouraging further members of the public to get in touch with them and spread their stories. The group found it be a popular choice for anonymous people wanting to share their own experiences.
Leonie Hudson, NCS Coordinator at Reds in the Community had the following to say:
“The group picked this project because members in the group had varying experiences with local mental health services, and they universally agreed that sometimes just telling your story can lift a weight off people’s shoulders. They were incredibly passionate about this idea and they hoped that it would allow people to tell their truths without fear of judgement.”
“The impact was two-fold, the group allowed the community to vent, knowing their stories would be planted and eventually bloom. But they also had a real impact on the residents of Deansgate Care Home, who now have a lovely garden area to relax in.”
Click here to read about how more young people on NCS have been transforming themselves and their communities.
FIT HATTERS has given Dave the kickstart to sustain his healthier lifestyle.
When Dave enrolled on the FIT HATTERS Programme, he was his heaviest ever weight and consequently, his mental-wellbeing suffered as much as his physical health.
He often felt very low and lacked the motivation to do anything let alone consider jumping straight into exercise. However, as he arrived at FIT HATTERS although initially apprehensive, he said: “the feeling soon passed, I was made to feel very welcome, by the staff and the other participants.”
The journey which started with FIT HATTERs has seen him lose 7.5kg so far and more importantly feel happier physically and mentally.
Dave was aware of the bad habits that had led him to this point, with evening snacking being the biggest problem for him. In the first week of the programme, he looked at increasing his step count by a small manageable margin but did not lose any weight and became disappointed.
This gave him more motivation to create better lifestyle habits as the weeks passed, increasing his step count further once more and even significantly reducing his evening snacks.
Dave joined other initiatives run by Luton Town in the Community including FIT HATTERS maintenance sessions and walking football.
As a result, Dave lost 3kg by the end of the course but states the benefits as so much more than physical. He explains: “Going through the FIT HATTERS programme has given me the motivation, knowledge and support to start my journey, it has improved my life both physically and mentally.”
Average weight loss statistics for the FIT FANS programme are impressive and exceed those of many other programmes. On average women lose well over 3kg and men over 5.5kg by the end of the 12 weeks. We also have evidence that lifestyle change, and weight loss are sustained over the following 12 months. More than 90% of men and 85% of women lose weight during the programme with many losing a clinically significant amount. Our data shows FIT FANS helps people to increase physical activity, and reduce sedentary time, leading to weight loss, a significant reduction in reduction in blood pressure, and improvement in self-reported mental wellbeing measures.
Since completing the 12 weeks, Dave has lost a further 4.5kg and continues to exercise at least 4 times a week whilst ensuring he eats a healthy, balanced diet.
To find out more about your nearest FIT FANS programme, please contact your local Club using the list below.
Your information will be sent to a member of staff from your chosen club who will call or email information about FIT FANS. You are not committing to joining FIT FANS just to receiving further information. Your data will not be used for any other information without you consent. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details on how we manage your data
FIT RAMS gives Carrie the ability to live the life her and her family deserve.
Prior to starting FIT RAMS with Derby County Community Trust, Carrie had tried many times to lose weight and get healthier but had found herself struggling to stick to diets and weight-loss plans.
“Before I started FIT RAMS had no confidence and felt no self-worth. I felt that everything I did I failed at as I had done with so many diets in the past. I was so morbidly obese, with a terrifying BMI that I worried constantly about leaving my children behind with no mother.
“I was unable to walk very far without feeling very tired. I had no energy and absolutely no motivation. I knew I wanted to make changes so much but just couldn’t see a way out of the cycle of binge eating and depression.”
Getting out of this cycle was exactly what Carrie needed to reach her goals and that is where FIT RAMS came in to help.
“I love the fact there was no pressure to make any changes to our lives and it was all on our own terms. This helped massively with the previous cycle I have felt from other classes of feeling like you’ve failed so continuing on a downward spiral. The SMART goals are really good for helping with this. This for me was so much better than being given an unrealistic eating plan and being dictated to.”
FIT RAMS was a revelation for Carrie, who committed herself to the course every week and enjoyed the process.
“I have learned so much by coming to the classes every week and have really enjoyed them. I’ve never missed a class and that’s because I looked forward to coming and didn’t feel judged or daunted by an intense exercise class that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with.
“The classes were so varied with quizzes, small group activities and full group discussions that I never felt under any pressure to contribute more than I felt I could. This variety made the sessions more interesting and helped to maintain my attention. I also felt our group was very friendly and supportive and I never felt silly asking any questions in front of anybody there.
“The exercise classes were amazing. They started off at such an achievable level that I didn’t get scared off after the first one! Every week Jon made them a little harder and that was perfect for me to keep my enthusiasm going and I also felt like I had really achieved something in each class.”
Average weight loss statistics for the FIT FANS programme are impressive and exceed those of many other programmes. On average women lose well over 3kg and men over 5.5kg by the end of the 12 weeks. We also have evidence that lifestyle change and weight loss are sustained over the following 12 months. More than 90% of men and 85% of women lose weight during the programme with many losing a clinically significant amount. Our data shows FIT FANS helps people to increase physical activity, and reduce sedentary time, leading to weight loss, a significant reduction in reduction in blood pressure, and improvement in self-reported mental wellbeing measures.
By the end of the course, Carrie lost an amazing 10.3kg and 13cm off her waist and feels like she’s making steps forward thanks to FIT RAMS and the support she received.
“I finally feel like I can succeed on my journey now and that’s down to Jon and Ben. They have helped me to start living the life I deserve and have helped me to feel like I am worthy of investing my time into. I will always be grateful for the time and planning they have put into the sessions and their attitude towards people like myself who just need some help to get back onto the right path.
“I can’t thank you both enough and am looking forward to attending the maintenance classes regularly.”
To find out more about your nearest FIT FANS programme, please contact your local Club using the list below.
Your information will be sent to a member of staff from your chosen club who will call or email information about FIT FANS. You are not committing to joining FIT FANS just to receiving further information. Your data will not be used for any other information without you consent. Please see our Privacy Policy for more details on how we manage your data
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