Announced as part of the EFL’s first ever Week of Action, six regional winners have been named Your Move Community Club of the Season for the outstanding work they have delivered off the pitch. The winning Clubs are:
- Middlesbrough – North East & Yorkshire
- Blackpool – North West
- Derby County – Midlands
- Milton Keynes Dons – South East & East
- AFC Wimbledon – London
- Plymouth Argyle – South West & Wales
The winners will receive their awards at a special event hosted at the House of Commons on 19 April alongside project participants, staff and volunteers from each Club Community Organisation (CCO).
The overall winner for each category will be announced live at the EFL Awards, 24 April 2022.
Each of the Clubs have made a significant difference to the lives of people living in their local areas, through projects designed to tackle societal issues such as loneliness, food poverty and education, amongst others.
Ashley Hackett, CEO at Blackpool FC Community Trust said,
“It’s the first time Blackpool has been recognised in this way and is a huge testament to how far collectively the Community Trust and Club have come since Simon Sadler’s involvement in the Club. The Team at the Community Trust continually go over and above to support our community and 2021 was by far our most impactful and successful year to date. With local and national lockdowns, the team continued to find alternate ways to support our community and we also were able to launch some inspiring new provisions to support even further, including our High School Hubs, Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) provision and BFC School, whilst sustaining all the other very important programmes, which have cemented our place as a key member of the Blackpool community.”
2022 Your Move Community Clubs of the Season
North East & Yorkshire – Middlesbrough
The Club has been acknowledged for its impressive range of projects which include an innovative and adaptable ‘Boro Bus’ enabling the Club to take its community programmes to people who may not normally access these services readily.
North West – Blackpool
Blackpool impressed the judges with its ability to engage with its community in new ways, for example through the development of a new Independent School offering alternate full-time education for Year 10 and 11 students.
Midlands – Derby County
From its Community Food Hub used as a main donation point for the city’s food banks, to the development of a new cancer project specifically for residents from underrepresented groups, Derby County’s range of projects were viewed by the judges as ‘outstanding’.
South East and East – Milton Keynes Dons
The judging panel were particularly taken with Milton Keynes Dons’ delivery of inclusion projects, with the Club the being the leading provider of inclusion football programmes across the region.
London – AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon’s significant volunteering numbers and scale of impact in the community made it a clear winner in this category with 850 local people volunteering on its projects over the last year.
South West and Wales – Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle impressed the judges with their innovative Green Social Prescribing project, helping to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of those most adversely affected by the pandemic.
All 72 EFL Clubs, through their CCOs deliver a wide range of projects 365 day per year focusing on improving health and wellbeing, raising aspirations, realising potential and building stronger, more cohesive communities. Using the appeal of football, EFL Clubs collectively invest over £59m in their communities annually.
Established in 2006, the EFL Awards is an annual gala event which celebrates excellence both on and off the pitch.
