Story added: 13th November 2023

EFL Week of Action Recap

Last week saw the Foundation work closely with Norwich City Football Club to put on a variety of community-based activities for the EFL Week of Action.

The Week of Action is an EFL campaign used to showcase the fantastic community work done by all 72 Football League clubs and invites participants in the respective foundation programmes to meet and work with personnel from the football club, such as first-team players and staff.

At the Community Sports Foundation, the week presented members of our community schemes with the opportunity for their stories to be shared with famous faces and for the programmes to gain further recognition across social media. For some of the avid Canaries fans involved with the Foundation, it also presented them with the chance to meet their heroes and idols.

On the Wednesday, Norwich City legend Grant Holt paid a visit to The Nest for the weekly meeting of Duncan’s Club. Holt got involved in the social activities, reflecting on his best moments in a yellow shirt and his favourite City teammates.

The Club also used the EFL Week of action to highlight our Onside programme, and in particular participant Jack. Onside helps to keep children experiencing a variety of difficulties and gets them back on track. Jack was rewarded for his outstanding progress with a visit from Norwich City first team-player Ashley Barnes, who joined him at The Nest for a kick-about and a few games on the PlayStation. Jack’s story can be read about in more detail here.

Ashley Barnes was a busy man during the EFL Week of Action, joining teammate Angus Gunn at the City Academy in Norwich for a session of Powerchair Football. The two City players joined the team for training, soon learning just how difficult the sport is! It was great to see both teams represented at a session, with both Barnes and Gunn impressed with the Powerchair programme, facilities and equipment on display.

The EFL Week of Action was concluded with the football club’s Executive Director and Foundation trustee Zoe Webber paying a visit to the weekly meeting of the Foundation’s Extra Time group to celebrate the programme’s 15^th anniversary. Originally started in 2008, Extra Time encourages over 55’s to get involved in physical activity, as well as providing a half hour of social interaction with cake and coffee after every session. Webber delivered a talk to our Extra Time participants at The Lion and Castle at Carrow Road, also answering questions about recent developments at the football club.

The EFL Week of Action has really showcased how our community schemes can be showcased on a wider scale but they’re only possible thanks to the incredible support of the public through schemes such as City Giving. If you’re interested in participating or helping out with any of our programmes, click here.