Recognising it as a problem that gets overlooked in society, an inspiring group of 9 young women on NCS launched a unique project named ‘Padded, Protected and Proud‘ this summer to combat period poverty. Read more
Year 6 children to receive mental health support to reduce NHS strain.
The EFL Trust, alongside four Club Community Organisations (CCOs) in Lancashire, are aiming to support children and their mental health through a new two-year project, Headstart, funded by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity after successfully applying for an NHS Charities Together Grant. Read more
A group of inspiring young teens from Sheffield with Element Society recently set out on a unique mission to impact their local community during their time on the National Citizen Service programme (NCS).
The mission… To help the homeless.
Following a week of adventure which included rock climbing and raft building, the group of 13 young people set to work on improving their community with the delivery of a social action project. Young people on NCS get the opportunity to complete a social action project as part of their experience, where they are given a taste of independence, mix with new people, take on exciting challenges and work on meaningful projects.
For their project, the group agreed that poverty and homelessness is a big issue within the city and felt that it was important to do something about it.
Naming the project ‘Th3 Unnoticed’, the group wanted to acknowledge the lack of awareness of homeless people within the city and started off by handing out food and drink for the homeless people of Sheffield. This was coupled with heartfelt messages and personalised cards of motivation, leading to some tearful emotions of gratitude from the homeless people.
Jon Dennis was one of the young people involved and gave more detail of what the group got up to:
“Many of us felt that the homeless go unnoticed in society and we wanted to give them a voice. It all resulted in a project that we were proud to be a part of.”
“We spent a week spreading awareness through social media about the struggles and misconceptions of rough sleepers in Sheffield. We used our £100 allowance to buy 15 meal deals and hand them out to the homeless in the city centre. We also talked to the homeless and asked them about their experiences of sleeping on the streets.”
Not slowing down, the group then set out a unique social experiment, involving one member of the group acting as a homeless person and then asking the public for help, to see whether anybody showed any concern. The group then gave £10 back to members of the public who did show concern as a sign of appreciation.
The groups endeavour went from strength to strength, as they also created surveys for the public, to gain their perspective on homelessness. The idea behind the surveys, was to help the group to gain some important data on the public’s perspective of the homeless within Sheffield, including how many members of the public would be willing to a help a homeless person, when encountering them in the city centre.
Emily Broadbent, another member of the group had this to say about the project:
“Our project was to help the unnoticed citizens by spreading a message that there is still hope left for the less fortunate. As a group, we all agreed that people shouldn’t still be living on the streets especially with such a wealthy economy surrounding them, as they become unnoticed and put in the shadows.”
Their 2-week experience on NCS has not only helped raise awareness of homelessness in Sheffield, as the young people themselves also gained greatly from such a fantastic collective effort, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and interacting with a wide range of different people within the community.
Will Earp, Programmes Manager at Element Society, commented on the young people’s project:
“The team recognised that in their local area, homelessness rates are increasing, with more and more people sleeping on the streets. They wanted to spread some kindness and joy through their short messages, it was heart-warming to see the responses from some people.”
“Their passion was evident about this topic and the team would love to use Changemaker opportunities to pitch to continue their social action!”
Click here to find out more about NCS.
Mike stated that the decision to step down was an “incredibly difficult” one, but as the EFL Trust begins consultation with stakeholders about its strategy post-2024, said it felt like the “right time” for a change.
The EFL Trust, the charitable arm of the EFL, has been awarded an ‘Excellent’ Merlin Standard accreditation assessment in supply chain management and has also received 97% rating from Pharos Response for NCS Delivery.
Since the EFL Trust was established in 2008 to oversee the diverse work of EFL Club Community Organisations, the organisation has been voluntarily assessed every 2 years by Assessment Services.
The Trust becomes one of only 18 organisations in the United Kingdom that are Merlin Accredited.
Achievement of the Merlin Standard demonstrates the high quality of the EFL Trust’s partnership working both within our network of EFL Club Community Organisations and our wider supply chain of delivery partners on key programmes.
The Merlin Standard for delivering excellence in supply chain management is built upon 8 fundamental and integrated principles: Design, Procure, Contract, Funding, Develop, Performance Manage, QA & Compliance, and Review & Close. Within each principle, there are a number of criteria, which provide a structured approach to achieving excellence in supply chain management.
Following years of continuous improvement against the standard, the EFL Trust was assessed once again this May and has been awarded an ‘Excellent’ accreditation, scoring an outstanding 86% outcome score.
The assessment noted a series of key strengths of the EFL Trust including the design of the strategy for the development of the supply chain; the EFL’s commitment to the Capability Code of Practice, a standard created in conjunction with the Premier League Charitable Fund to ensure that there is a consistent professional standard for continuous professional development across of network and wider supply chain. Also noted, were the EFL Trust’s strengths in communication methods, including events, regularity of digital network communications and events; their consultation and collaborative style and also their approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Mike Evans, CEO of the EFL Trust said,
“This accreditation is very important to us and our network of delivery teams in communities across England and Wales. At the EFL Trust, two of our core values are a commitment to continually improving and also leading by example, so this ‘Excellent’ rating is a great testament to our organisation living and breathing those values.
“We are also delighted that part of this accreditation is based on an assessment of our organisation by network members, who it is our mission to advise, support, represent and resource.”
In addition, ahead of the NCS programme commencing this summer, the EFL Trust have also undergone their annual Health, Safety and Safeguarding Management System Pre-programme Evaluation, undertaken by Pharos on behalf of the NCS Trust.
The evaluation involves an in-depth review of Governance – including Safeguarding, Health & Safety, and Incident Management – and Procurement and Quality Assurance arrangements for EFL Trust and its network of delivery partners.
The results of the assessment were outstanding, with the EFL Trust scoring 97%.
The EFL Trust will continue to work closely with our network to ensure that these standards and any areas for continuous improvement remain at the heart of our strategy going forward.
Blackburn Rovers Community Trust (BRCT) welcomed hundreds of eager pupils from across the North West who want to make a sustainable difference to their lives and those of future generations.
Read more
These were the words of Hayley Barclay from Club Doncaster Foundation who recently took students from Harrison College in Doncaster on the NCS programme. Read more
Prior to attending the FIT TROTTERS programme Amjid had been signed off from work due to depression caused by a family trauma incident. He became a shadow of himself and struggled to complete mundane day-to-day tasks.
FIT TROTTERS is part of the EFL Trust FIT FANS programme facilitated at over 40 clubs across the country.
Having booked five separate sessions at his local gym, Amjid was aware he required some support and guidance but cancelled every session because he did not feel well enough to attend. However, FIT FANS although initially reluctant had a different effect on Amjid.
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.
Jack and his colleague Dianne at Bolton Wanderers were pivotal in Amjid’s commitment to the initiative. They made immediate contact and explained in detail what the course would entail whilst offering their continued support throughout.
More so, their offering to Amjid was above and beyond as Jamie, a member of the FIT TROTTERS team met him in the car park of his initial introduction session to ease Amjid’s anxious thoughts of the unknown.
Following this first interaction, he attended the next session but not without difficulty. Amjid found it hard and reluctantly made his way to the stadium but remained reserved and quiet throughout.
However, a tour of the Reebok Stadium and the supportive nature of the group, gave Amjid the courage to start to open up to the group, lifting a weight from the shoulders he had been carrying. Eventually, he stated that he was glad he did attend as it was the only event that had got him to leave his house in months.
This was just the start of Amjid’s journey as he began to grow in confidence and soon became a key member of the group building strong friendships with other participants.
He said: “My confidence has grown throughout the course and I have been able to maintain this on a daily basis and I have a sense of real pride of how far I have come.”
Amjid’s mental health started to improve and with this so did his physical well-being as he lost 3kg over the 12 weeks.
Consequently, the staff and FIT TROTTERS have had a huge impact on him and his recovery from depression. Amjid has returned to his beloved job as an emergency service officer, initially on reduced hours where he will now make a difference in people’s lives much like Jack and his team did for himself.
Amjid explained: “I strongly believe that FIT TROTTERS and the coaches have a big part to play in me returning back to work, to a job that I love doing and had missed so dearly while I was off work suffering with depression.”
To find out more about FIT FANS please contact your local Club using the list below
A group of 13 young people recently set out on a project to spread cheer and share essential supplies to their community.
The project was spearheaded by young people on NCS with Port Vale Foundation. NCS is an experience designed for 16–17-year-olds where they are given a taste of independence, forge new relationships, take on exciting challenges and also working on social action projects to benefit their local communities.
They chose to keep their social action project local to home as most of the group are Port Vale fans and so felt passionately raising money for Port Vale Foundation’s ‘Community Cupboard’. The Community Cupboard is an initiative to help people struggling with food poverty within the Stoke on Trent community providing a welcomed support of vital supplies throughout the year for people in need.
To keep the cupboard up and running, the group raised money at one of Port Vale’s ‘Golden Valiant’s’ sessions. Golden Valiants is part of EFL Trust’s Extra Time Hubs programmes and is aimed to tackle loneliness in elderly people.
Young met old as the group hosted a Golden Valiants session and hosted a variety of fun and exciting activities, such as a quiz, bake sale, tombola, as well as bonding with the elderly over some hot beverages. The event put a smile on everyone that attended, with elderly people stating their personal enjoyment on bonding with the younger generation.
The fundraising at Golden Valiants resulted in raising over £200 worth of supplies for the community cupboard. This included young people buying essential food items such as milk, pasta, soups, meat and many others.
The legacy of the project has already been felt within the local community, with elderly people at Golden Valiants expressing their gratitude for the young people that hosted the event.
Sadie Haynes, Community Project Co-ordinator AT Port Vale Foundation had the following to say about the project:
“A huge thankyou to the NCS young people who fundraised for our Community Cupboard, the food that was donated from the monies raised will go a long way in supporting the families in our community who need that support.”
Click here to find out more about NCS.
A group of young people on NCS, launched a project this summer to provide some cheer for refugees raising £285. The young people, who were with QPR Community Trust, had the opportunity to make a positive difference within their community through their NCS experience.
NCS is designed for 16–17-year-olds and during their experience they are given a taste of independence, as they mix with new people, taking on exciting challenges and also working on projects to benefit their local communities.
The young people ran an event for a group of local refugees, which was held at QPR’s Loftus Road Stadium. One of the group members, Mohammed, was a refugee himself and was passionate about supporting other refugees within the community. The group felt inspired by Mohammed’s story and so got to work on a project.
The group contacted refugee charity ‘Care for Calais’ and discussed their idea of hosting an event at QPR, involving tours and fun activities for the refugees. On the day of the event at Loftus Road, over 40 people attended and were enthused by the passion shown by the young people, in attempting to provide some cheer.
Families and young children has an evening of fun games, activities and were also shown around Loftus Road. Due to the success of the evening, the group, alongside QPR and ‘Care for Calais’ are now lookign to arrange further events to engage more refugees in the local area.
Mohammed talked to us about the project:
“We needed to help the community, to try to understand how to help people and to make a better society. It was really wonderful and enjoyable to organise the event at Loftus Road, because we made other people happy.
“I enjoyed meeting new people and their children, communicating with them and put smiles on their faces.
Mohammed has felt the positive impact his NCS experience has had upon him whilst working on his refugee social action project at QPR:
“NCS was the best experience I ever had, it was such a great time to meet new friends, to do so many activities and to learn so much. NCS has helped me improve my own skills, such as communication and it has shown me how to talk confidently. I would love to do NCS all over again.”
Not stopping there, the young people launched a Go Fund Me page, raising £285. The money raised was used to provide goodie bags to give out to each refugee attending, containing toys, games, QPR merchandise, food and drinks.
Savannah Pacey was one of the young people involved within the project, she had this to say;
“This was such a rewarding experience for us. We were able to spend an evening with a group of people who we wouldn’t normally have contact with. To hear their stories and see the smiles on the children’s faces was just incredible.
“It has been such an incredible experience. I’ve loved every minute, from the activities in the first week, to the social action project it has just been so rewarding. On top of that I’ve made some great friends too!
“I feel more confident now to go out in the world and challenge myself!”
Click here to find out more about NCS.
How The Foundation of Light is keeping Parkinson’s community social and active19th April 2024 - 4:00 pm
Extra Time Hubs with Wigan Athletic Community Trust offers Dennis a new lease of life after Parkinsons diagnosis11th April 2024 - 4:00 pm
EFL Clubs and their Community Organisations to deliver nationwide Kellogg’s Football Camps9th April 2024 - 9:46 am
Remember the Rovers Visit Senior Training Ground7th April 2024 - 7:30 am
