Derby County first-team duo Matt Clarke and Krystian Bielik, as well as the Rams’ four club ambassadors, came to celebrate and support the Derby County Community Trust's Health department and their participants at a festive Christmas party on Thursday.
Pride Park Stadium's in-house restaurant The Yard became the location for the special gathering of staff and supporters of the Community Trust. The celebration was for participants who have been attending the EFL Extra Time Hub, Active Recovery and Forever Active sessions.
The EFL Extra Time Hub is a national project from the EFL Trust harness the power of football clubs in the local communities to bring people together aged 55 and over. Sessions take place fortnightly and sees a friendly group of people chat, play games and take part in organised trips.
Active Recovery is a cancer exercise and rehabilitation programme which works with anyone who has been recovering from, living with or has been affected by cancer within the last five years. The programme won ‘Programme of the Year’ for 2019 at the Derby County Community Trust Awards recently.
Forever Active is a physical activity programme for people over 60, combining gentle exercise to boost balance stability and strength with sociable groups. Sessions provide a fantastic opportunity for participants to socialise over a cuppa with like-minded people.
Derby County's resident musical victor Tony Luke sang a few festive tunes to get the group in the Christmas spirit whilst food was served and enjoyed by attendees. Roy McFarland and Roger Davies hosted a game of bingo and Marc Edworthy and Michael Johnson chatted about festive family traditions with the participants.
Luke Wilkinson, who is the Health Team Leader at the Community Trust, said: "We've had a fantastic year in our health department at the Community Trust and it's great for the club to get involved and celebrate with us.”
He added: “It was a lovely surprise for the group to have Matt Clarke and Krystian Bielik join in on the festivities; it was the perfect way to wish everyone a Happy Christmas."
If you'd like to know more about any of the Community Trust’s sessions mentioned abobe, please email luke.wilkinson@dcct.co.uk.