Across 2023, Derby County Community Trust worked with over 30,000 participants across 40 projects, improving lives and communities through sport, physical activity, health and education.

As we begin the new year, we’re taking a look back at several 2023 highlights across the community.

The year started on a high, with the start of weekly Community Meals at Harrison’s Hub. Running each Thursday, across the past 12 months over 1,500 meals have been served up to various members of the community, including other charity groups and organisations. This has been made possible through funds raised via fans’ contributions and local business support.

Into the Spring, the Schools and Coaching department launched ‘Rambots’ as part of the Premier League Primary Stars programme – Sphero BOLT robots which are designed to teach coding to children – sponsored by Lubrizol to widen the STEM offer and opportunities locally.

Heading into summer, it was a busy time for the Education and Employability team. Three of the Football and Education teams won their respective EFL Community Education and Football Alliance leagues, and were invited to the play-off finals at Wembley to celebrate.

The same team also worked tirelessly to launch the new Female Talent Pathway, an integration with Derby County Women to ensure all local talented footballers are given competitive opportunities. Throughout the summer, over 750 triallists joined the team at Moor Farm Training Centre.

Over in the Inclusion team, the DS Active team won a national FA ‘Just Play’ competition, where they got to attend the FA Disability Cup finals at St George’s Park. Joining the event as VIPs, they got to take part in various activities and help to present the trophies.

It was a busy year for Events too. The Derby 10K also returned in Springtime, welcoming over 3,000 runners to the city streets to take part in the charity’s biggest fundraiser.

The flagship event was followed by the Trust’s first ever Black and White Ball, which was held at Clowes Developments in July. The fundraiser saw attendees from across the local corporate community come together to support the Trust’s projects, and through a range of on-the-night games and an auction, a fantastic £26,000 was raised.

The Health department at the Community Trust continue to grow, and this year developed a new programme to support and empower women. Menopause Matters launched at the back end of 2022, and has helped over 800 women to date. Its vast progress was recognised nationally at the Menopause Friendly Awards, and was also awards the Community Trust’s Programme of the Year at their own awards in September.

As we headed into Autumn, the Community Trust stepped back up their efforts to provide a warm and welcome space at Harrison’s Hub, with the return of ‘Communi-tea’ sessions each Wednesday, in addition to the ongoing Community Meals.

They also reintroduced the Rams Family Support project, which runs throughout half term holidays to ensure that children in receipt of free school meals are invited to holiday activity sessions with healthy lunches. In addition to the day time sessions, participants were also invited to Pride Park for a stadium tour with first team players Eiran Cashin and Louie Sibley.

The Derby County first team support continued into the EFL Week of Action in November, when Head Coach Paul Warne and Assistant Head Coach Richie Barker attended the Female Talent Pathway training sessions at the University of Derby, to shine a light on the porgress that has been made within girls’ football across 2023.

Finally, as December came around, it was another busy festive period for the Community Trust. The month started with their Reverse Advent Calendar campaign, ran in conjunction with Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance, where over 200 full food parcels were donated to the city’s food banks.

Festive meals were hosted at Pride Park Stadium and out in the community, with events staged for the Golden Rams and friends, Ukrainian families who have moved to Derby and community members who may not otherwise receive a hot Christmas meal. Santa also visited Harrison’s Hub, with two Santa’s Grotto events welcoming children who might not have got to visit Santa without the help of the Trust.

2023, as ever, was a busy time for the charitable arm of the football club, and looking ahead to 2024 there are no signs of activity slowing down – with plans in place for new projects and activities.

To support the ongoing work of the Community Trust, head to our new Donation page below!

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