3/1 To Win
Derby County Community Trust have been shortlisted in the Non-Premier League Community Scheme category at the Football Business Awards.
The annual awards look to recognise the best in all aspects of football business, from marketing initiatives to the use of technology.
The Community Scheme Award celebrates the engagement of football clubs with their communities, and the fantastic outcomes that this work achieves and the Community Trust will face competition from Bristol Rovers, Cardiff City, Fulham and Sunderland on the night.
The nomination was received for the innovative use of connecting the Football Club and other sports organisations with their arts and cultural counterparts in the ‘This Is Derby’ project which was led by the Derby County Community Trust.
Uniting sports and arts charities from across the city in a unique partnership, the project worked with 2,500 children and young people from Derby’s most disadvantaged wards, with the aim to improve employability prospects and aspirations and reduce the inequality faced by these youngsters when compared to their more affluent peers.
‘This Is Derby’ has already been recognised regionally by the Mighty Creatives and was presented at the International Arts in Society conference in Lisbon earlier this year. Despite the initial Department for Education funding coming to an end this summer, the project has received further investment in excess of £2m from the Department for Education’s Opportunity Area fund and Arts Council England.
Simon Carnall, Head of Community, said: “We are delighted to be nominated at an extremely high level for the work that we do across the city and county, and in particular for the ‘This Is Derby’ project which has been one of the most exciting ventures we have ever taken on.
“We were operating in a brand new landscape, but the results we have seen in young people across the city speak for themselves, with brilliant retention rates which have led to us securing further funding to continue our partnership with the other organisations who have all played a crucial role in delivering an overwhelmingly successful project.”
Derby County Community Trust have been named EFL Community Club of the Year twice in the last five seasons for their work with Derby and Derbyshire’s communities.
