THE Sport and Recreation Alliance Community Awards have been running for over 25 years.
They are an annual celebration of grassroots clubs, organisations and individuals and this year’s awards held at Twickenham was the biggest yet.
MFC Foundation were among 160 guests, winning one of eight awards presented by the Alliance’s President, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
Nominated for their work over the last year on their Premier League programmes – Kicks, Inspires, Primary Stars and Targeted – Boro’s charity arm came away with the Youth Development Award sponsored by Fearless Women, beating off competition from Cambridge and Southampton who respectively offer a safe place for visually impaired children and a cricket programme that supports young people living in areas with high levels of poverty.
A regular every year, the Youth Development Award acknowledges programmes that are engaging and significantly improving the lives of children and young people through sport, recreation or physical activity.
Follow this link to watch an inspiring video.
Last year MFC Foundation were involved in 3,500 hours across 66 schools hosting their PL Primary Stars programme whilst 13 secondary schools were supported through the PL Inspires programme where 83% of students engaged reported an increase in resilience. Over 2,000 young people attended PL Kicks across 32 sessions per week, while 90% of young people reported feeling increased trust and mental wellbeing from being part of PL Inspires.
The PL Kicks Targeted project supports children and young people who have been criminally or sexually exploited, or who are vulnerable to this and equips them with the tools to navigate a complex world, building confidence, self-esteem and resilience to give them hope for a more positive future. Through this project, MFC Foundation supported 20 medium-to-high risk, five of whom went on to achieve a qualification and another five transition to further education or employment.
On winning the award, Head of MFC Foundation Lynsey Edwards said: “It’s brilliant recognition of the excellent work the Foundation team does across the Premier League programmes to support thousands of young people every year. The whole Foundation team contributes to the work we do for young people and this award gives them all the national recognition they deserve.”
Picture Caption: From left to right are Sue Anstiss, CEO at Fearless Women and Trustee of Women’s Sport Trust, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Head of Foundation Lynsey Edwards, Business Support Gemma Bellas and Targeted Youth Lead Oliver Swain, MFC Foundation.
