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EFL and Premier League Clubs will unite to show their support and celebrate the positive impact of 15-17 year olds that have taken part in NCS (National Citizen Service) through #NCSMatchDay.

#NCSMatchDay  is a national campaign ran by EFL Trust and this year will enter it’s fourth year.

The campaign is proving to be a huge success, reaching millions of people every year. Over 300 footballers such as Burnley FC’s Sam Vokes and Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing have helped celebrate NCS and honor the young people who have given back to their local community.

Over the next few weekends, Clubs such as Leeds United, Burnley FC and Stoke City will showcase NCS takeover matches, which will involve first team players warming up in NCS branded t-shirts and meeting NCS graduates.

Each EFL Club has a dedicated NCS Ambassador from their first team who champions NCS programmes in their local community. This includes Middlesbrough FC defender George Friend who was voted PFA Player in the Community  in 2016, highlighting his significant work around the Teeside community and his support for NCS.

Talking about the NCS Programme, George said:

“I’ve been a supporter of MFC Foundation’s NCS project for a number of years now, and I’ve seen first-hand the positive impact it has had on the teenagers involved.

“I think NCS is brilliant. It gives young people the chance to experience a variety of activities and challenges whilst building new friendships and benefiting the local community.”

Dominik Stingas Paczko, Community Operations manager at EFL Trust said:

“NCS Match Day is a now key date in the football calendar.

“It’s a great opportunity to engage with different audiences and use the power of football to raise the awareness of NCS in local communities. The support we get from EFL and Premier League Clubs as well as the professional footballers is amazing.”

EFL Trust work with over 50 EFL and Premier League Clubs that deliver NCS and have already given the life changing opportunity to over 50,000 teenagers.

NCS is a flagship government initiative that provides young people aged 16-17 the chance to take on new challenges, experience exciting activities, make long-lasting friendships and develop vital skills that will support them later in life. Supporting young people’s transition to adulthood, the programme develops their strength of character, giving a sense of purpose, optimism and belonging.

To find out more about NCS, visit: https://www.efltrust.com/ncs/

Brentford’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Blackburn Rovers has been dedicated to the local community and young people will play a special role. The Club’s first ever Community Takeover Match will take place next Saturday, 2 February, and children from Brentford FC Community Sports Trust’s community projects will have the exciting opportunity to take part in important matchday roles next week. From the press box to the football pitch, ten children – from across eight of the Trust’s community projects – will go behind the scenes and join a number of matchday staff to learn the ropes. 

Children with disabilities, a young carer, and a budding female footballer are just some of the participants who will take on the roles – including shadowing Head Coach Thomas Frank. And the takeover won’t just focus on Thomas Frank’s pre-match tactics, children will also join staff in the ticket office, Club Shop and shadowing Brentford’s legendary matchday announcer Peter Gilham.

Mia, 13, benefits from the Trust’s Young Carers project, which provides much-needed respite to young people across the boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. She will have the chance to work at the match and will be shadowing the Club’s matchday photography team, pitchside taking pictures that will appear on brentfordfc.com.

Speaking about the match, she said: “I really enjoy photography – it has allowed me to express myself and I’m honoured to be able to photograph a team that I have supported since I was little. It was only through the Trust’s Young Carers Project I have been able to develop my passion for photography: the project has helped build my confidence and helped me share experiences with other young carers in the same situation as me.” 

The match is part of Brentford FC’s ongoing commitment to community initiatives. For every ticket bought at the game, £1 will be donated to Brentford FC Community Sports Trust – helping people like Mia.

Cliff Crown, Brentford FC Chairman, said: “This is a fantastic idea and I am delighted we have been able to work with the Trust to create such a memorable event. It will be a great sight to see young people that engage with Brentford FC via our Trust heavily involved on matchday and getting a view behind the scenes. I am sure our fans will give them all the support they need on the day as well.

“The involvement with our local community is one of our key values. Events like this, as well as the day-to-day involvement of players and staff, are a great way to showcase the work done by the Trust. It is even better that it can happen on a day when we are donating £1 for all tickets sold to the Trust. I hope it is a day where money and awareness are raised.”

• London’s Deputy Mayor and representatives from Royal Greenwich, Bexley, Peabody Trust and the Metropolitan Police all attended
• Players and officials wore Street Violence Ruins Lives t-shirts to support the campaign

London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Sophie Linden spoke as Charlton Athletic Community Trust re-launched its Street Violence Ruins Lives (SVRL) campaign at Charlton Athletic’s fixture against Accrington Stanley on Saturday 19 January.

Representatives from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the London Borough of Bexley, Peabody Trust, the Metropolitan Police and Sophie Linden, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, attended a reception chaired by Sally and Jamie Knox.

SVRL was launched in 2008 following the tragic death of Rob Knox, whose father Colin was also in attendance at Saturday’s event.

Charlton and Accrington Stanley’s entire first-team squads joined the day’s officials in wearing SVRL t-shirts out of the tunnel.

The t-shirts featured the SVRL logo on the front and the London Needs You Alive logo on the back, an initiative from the Mayor of London’s Office which Sophie was interviewed about pitchside.

CACT mentors and Young Greenwich youth workers spoke to fans about the campaign by mobile units outside the West Stand, handing out copies of CACT’s new SVRL strategy and discussing the programmes CACT delivers to reduce street violence.

Young Greenwich partner Champions 4 Change set up a boxing ring in the car park for young people, while fellow partner B Young Stars promoted its youth education programmes.
Young people were able to take advantage of the club’s Kids for a Quid ticket offer to watch Charlton win 1-0.

Sally Knox said:
“Soon after Rob’s death, CACT got in contact with us and said they wanted to do something about the violence that was erupting in 2008. So we got together and started working together. I set up the Rob Knox Foundation, and we’ve worked together now for nearly 11 years.

“With the amount of funding they’ve now got, I’m so excited for the future”.

Cllr Danny Thorpe, the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Leader, was among the reception’s other speakers, and also signed the pledge card, as did the London Borough of Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Philip Read.

Jason Morgan MBE and Roger Godsiff MP, Chair of Trustees, signed the pledge card on behalf of CACT.

Charlie Macdonald, CACT’s Director of Youth & Inclusion, said:
“The programmes that we run already reach out to young people every day, every week.

“We’ve decided that we must make every opportunity count when we’re interacting… We want to spread this message and make sure that people understand the options that are available to them.”

Charlton midfielder Joe Aribo and Club Secretary Chris Parkes signed the pledge card. Other Charlton players have also got behind the campaign, with midfielder Mark Marshall leading a seminar for young people and sharing his views about the importance of positive role models.

U23s player Junior Quitirna reflected on his own experiences of street violence.

He said:

“It was important to me to be involved in this campaign. I related to some of the boys I was speaking to at the seminar and I can see some of me in them. We fought the same war, trying to get away from the street violence.”

Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said:

“The council is deeply concerned about knife crime. The campaign is one of the many partnerships we are supporting to tackle the spread of violence.

“The Royal Borough of Greenwich, Peabody and CACT have secured £150,000 funding over three years from the Mayor of London’s Young Londoners Fund.

“We are also each contributing £30,000 to mentor young people in Woolwich Common and Thamesmead Moorings who are at risk of exclusion from school or involvement in criminal activity.”

As part of National Obesity Awareness Week, Walking Football with PNE participant Andy Laurie revealed how getting involved in the sport has helped him drop his weight from 108 kilos to 90 kilos.

Andy has been attending Walking Football sessions since February 2017 and has revealed how beneficial it has been to him and how it has contributed to him losing 18 kilos in under two years.

He said: “I started walking football in February 2017 and I play two or three times a week. I’ve used it not only as playing the game but as weight loss. I thoroughly enjoy it and have continued to play to this day ever since.

“I’m currently 90 kilos so to lose 18 kilos in just under two years is quite good. I’m feeling a lot healthier. I can walk up and down stairs now without getting out of breath and I really enjoy it.”

Andy uses his belt as an indication of the amount of weight he has lost and drills new holes into it as he continues to shed the pounds through regular exercise.

As well as the physical side of losing weight, it also requires a lot of mental strength and Andy believes that being part of group who support each other through the good times and the bad times is key.

“It’s very much mental,” said Andy. “What we have here in the group is very much two parts to the football. One is the actual football and the other is the banter and camaraderie we have as a group. We all support one another.

“If someone is feeling a bit down, doesn’t want to turn up, we still make them turn up and they still enjoy it. Even when some of us get injured, they’re still turning up on a Friday or Wednesday or Monday for a coffee.

“So that’s really good for what the Community Trust here and in other places have done to get us as a group. Because we all support one another, we turn up more often, we are doing more physical exercise and it’s better all round.

“What would be nice to know but it’s impossible to know would be what as a group, what our weight total was two years ago and what it is today. Between the whole group we would have lost a lot of weight because everyone has lost weight.”

Andy’s weight loss journey had originally begun in the summer of the pervious year when he decided that it was time for him to change his lifestyle and begin to try and shed the pounds.

“My weight loss started in July 2016. I was 108 kilos and I thought this is getting stupid, too fat whatever so I started cycling, started walking all that sort of stuff,” continued Andy.

“What I did when I started walking was, I did a distance and I was walking for an hour and 15 minutes. Each day I tried to cut that time down by a minute so slowly you get faster and faster and I was doing whatever mileage it was in an hour and that’s when I knew I was up to proper speed.”

The Preston North End fan has not just changed the amount of physical activity he undertakes and while he hasn’t changed his diet, he has reduced his alcohol consumption.

Andy admitted: “I’ve not actually changed what I eat, I still like the odd treat, however what I have done is cut down the amount of alcohol I drink at home.

“I still go to the pub twice a week and have a beer and occasionally I’ll have a drink at home but not very often so really diet hasn’t changed that much its purely down to exercise.”

North End host weekly Walking Football sessions on a Tuesday from 6pm until 7pm and on a Friday from 11am until 1pm at the Preston North End Community Training Centre for men and women over the age of 50, regardless of ability.

The first steps in losing weight can be the toughest, but Andy believes that the Walking Football sessions provide the perfect opportunity for people to lose weight and he is keen to encourage more to do so and get involved.

He added: “Get into a group which is fun to be with. If exercise is fun, then you’re going to do it. Start off slowly, don’t overdo it and just work up.

“We get new members because they are usually overweight as I was, you come on, you play for two minutes and you’re falling around on the floor, you can’t get up, you can’t get your breath but slowly you get through that and then you don’t ache now after games.

“I thoroughly enjoy it. They are a great bunch. We have the odd fracas where someone kicks someone, and all that kind of stuff. We have a go at the referees here because of their biased refereeing usually against my team but we all have a good laugh and that’s what life is about at the end of the day.

“So, I would say to anyone, start it gently and enjoy it but just carry one. Persevere and just carry on doing it.”