��������

Bob, aged 61 was overweight – in fact, he says ‘morbidly obese according to the internet’. When Bob’s wife died, he thought it was important for him to do something about it, as she’d always asked him to.

‘Shape Up’ is a free 12-week weight management course for men at Watford Football Club. The course is aimed at men aged 18 to 65 years-old with a high BMI.

Participants meet up weekly for a ninety-minute session comprising of a forty-five-minute educational segment and a forty-five-minute physical activity session. These two segments are delivered with the aim of improving participant’s healthy lifestyle knowledge to ensure a sustainable weight loss rather than the typically short-term benefit of a diet-based programme.

��Bob found that the coaching team’s teaching about nutrition and the psychology of peer pressure and your attitude to food was really valuable.

��Bob stopped drinking beer, cut back on pasta and bread and ate lots of fresh veg and salads. He switched from sugary cereals to porridge and gave up his sugar in his coffee.�� With the encouragement he found that he was able to stop eating sweets, crisps and general junk. He also felt inspired to begin exercising and now does activity 6 days a week, for 30 minutes.

The impact on Bob’s life has been significant. He’s now lost 11.4Kg and buys better food: mostly healthy lean meats, veggies and salads. He has seen a big drop in his blood pressure – now 130/80 – cholesterol and his resting heart rate according to his GP.

Bob has also found that he’s have stopped snoring. He loves being slimmer and is enjoying compliments from friends and family!

Bob remarried and is proud to say that his weight has remained fairly static….even through the COVID-19 lockdown! He says,

“This has genuinely been a complete life change.”

To find out more about how Watford are helping men like Bob, visit

This autumn young people, aged 16-17, from South London have been out in force, dedicating their time to support London Wildlife Trust with some conservation work at The Great North Wood. Read more

Wigan Athletic Community Trust have launched a brand new initiative to tackle loneliness across the Wigan Borough this Christmas.

During the festive period, the club’s official charity will be delivering Christmas support packages to people at risk of isolation as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme and a £5 donation from Latics supporters will significantly help the cause and ensure we can deliver to more people over the festive period.

Contributions from supporters will assist the Community Trust in providing a number of items within the bags including Christmas puddings, crafts and other festive gifts.

Tom Flower, Head of Community at Wigan Athletic, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had such an impact on the lives of many older people in our community; it has meant they have become even more isolated, which has had an adverse effect on their mental health.

“For people living on their own, Christmas can be a very difficult time and one made even harder during these uncertain times.

“Through the delivery of our festive bags we aim to make what may be a challenging time, a much more joyful occasion and any donations from supporters will certainly help us to do this.”

Latics are one of 31 �������� clubs involved in the programme launched by the �������� Trust and supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) during the summer to tackle loneliness among older people.

Christine Blundell, who has been working on the nprogramme for the Community Trust says the packages will provide much needed festive spirit for those that receive them.

“The packages will contain plenty of festive gifts including a Christmas pudding, tree decorations, crafts and also letters and pictures from local primary school pupils,” Christine said.

“We have seen through the programme how much of an impact a phone call or chat over the fence can have, so to provide these packages at a crucial time of the year will make a real difference.”

As part of the programme, staff have been providing a number of services to ensure those most vulnerable continue to feel connected to their local community, including virtual coffee mornings, walking groups, phone calls and socially distanced garden gate visits.

So far over 1,000 phone calls have been made to residents and supporters to check in and offer any further support whilst over 70 socially distanced garden gate visits have taken place.

Teresa Dexter, who has benefitted from both phone calls and visits from staff, said: “The support during lockdown has been very, very welcome with the visits and the phone calls.

“It’s been nice as I live alone and we haven’t been able to see much of our families. It was nice to know someone was coming and that someone cared enough to come and chat or phone just for ten minutes. It gave me something to look forward to.”

Derby County Community Trust were delighted to host Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on a virtual visit to their ‘Stay Safe. Stay Fit. Stay Connected.’ project on Wednesday evening.��The MP was interested in finding out more about the initiative which has adapted a city-wide approach to tackling the issues which have been exemplified by the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the call were members of staff from the Derby County Community Trust, Leon Taylor – a trustee and volunteer at the Trust, Paul Brookhouse – Project Manager, Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance and Caroline Spalding – Assistant Headteacher at The Bemrose School.

The project was initiated by Derby County Football Club’s players and manager, who recognised the role that a football has to support its community, particularly during a crisis.��The expertise of staff at the Community Trust, who have long-established links with a raft of organisations in Derby, were used to establish the demand for services in the city.

The obvious need for increased supply to the food network became the starting point of the project, which has operated a donation hub at Pride Park Stadium since April.��This partnership attracted further investment from The National Lottery Community Fund, through which the Secretary of State found out more about the initiative.

The visit involved a tour of the food network hub in Derby to show how organisations have come together to source and supply food packages to those in need.�� m supermarkets donating surplus stock to places of worship providing premises to store goods, to the volunteer network who were recruited through the Stay Safe, Stay Fit, Stay Connected project to deliver the parcels, every part of the initiative has exemplified how effective partnership work is.

Leon Taylor, who volunteered every week during lockdown, said:

“Throughout the initial lockdown I volunteered at the food hub and delivered food parcels. It was amazing to see how many people the project and the Trust were helping.”

Another element of the project which the Secretary of State was keen to learn more about was its youth mental health support, a particular concern for vulnerable pupils.

Caroline Spalding outlined some of the work that the Trust were able to deliver within her school, which is situated within a high area of social deprivation. She said:

“Derby County were able to come in and deliver very tailored, specific wellbeing sessions alongside our academic approach. 100% of pupils said it helped them get back into routine, and their grades and attendance have continued to rise as a result of the programme. I genuinely think the impact of Derby County coming in has been totally different to us delivering these projects ourselves.”

The visit culminated with some discussion on future plans and the project’s legacy beyond the pandemic.��In response to the second lockdown, the weekly food donation hub at Pride Park Stadium has been reinstated and will be open every Thursday from 11.00am-2.00pm.�� Donations will continue to support the project’s vital work in keeping the city safe, fit and connected.

Alongside increased provision in schools around wellbeing and a full virtual timetable with activities for all ages, the Derby County Community Trust were proud to highlight the vital work that has come to fruition as a result of the pandemic.

The Secretary of State visit highlighted that the unique approach to the work undertaken by the Trust across Derby has not gone unnoticed and the initiative will strive to address issues which arise during the second lockdown and beyond.