Richard Luscombe Local heroes from EFL Clubs will be recognised and celebrated for the impact they make in their communities as part of the EFL’s Community Weekends, taking place from Saturday, 22 February to Sunday, 3 March.
Across the period, Clubs, managers and players will acknowledge the vital work that community staff and volunteers deliver 365 days per year and Community Heroes will be honoured by special visits from players.
Trevor Birch, CEO of the EFL, said: “Community is a fundamental part of the EFL and its 72 Clubs’ identity. The work undertaken by Clubs has a hugely positive impact on the participants of the various programmes and in the towns and cities where people live.
“Football Clubs are trusted in their communities, and this can help to remove barriers for accessing support. Clubs are successfully addressing challenges linked to health, wellbeing, education, and employment as well as helping to keep communities connected. We look forward to celebrating and recognising this incredible work during the Community Weekends.”
Debbie Cook, Director of Community at the EFL, said: “EFL Club Charities engage more than 1 million people in our communities all year round. To be able to showcase the Club community work as a collective and acknowledge the work of participants and programme leaders – many of whom are volunteers – really shows the scope and impact this vital work plays in supporting local fans and residents.”
The EFL Community Weekends build on the success of the recent EFL Week of Action in November – where the League and its Clubs shone a light on the significant social impact Club community work has on towns and cities in England and Wales. This was valued at over £1.24 billion a season in the latest community impact report found here.
During the 2023/24 season, EFL Football Club charities delivered 438,033 sessions across 801,661 hours with an average of 6,084 sessions and 11,134 hours of support per Club.
In 2023/24 Argyle Community Trust supported 109,902 people aged four months to 103 years through 29,362 sessions. Data enable us to target those most in need – 64% being from the most deprived areas – Plymouth and Cornwall being in the top 30% most deprived areas nationally.
This included:
- 2,104 health and wellbeing sessions
- 183 sessions to combat loneliness
- 34,393 hours of physical activity for young people
- 58,856 sessions to children to reduce obesity
- 1,841kg of weight loss through our programmes
- 2,162 hours of youth mentoring and crime prevention
You can read more about our impact in our 2023/24 Impact Report.
For more information on the EFL Community Weekends and the impact of EFL Club community work please visit www.efl.com.
