Northampton Town FC wins award for loneliness project

Northampton Town FC Community Trust started the project during the coronavirus lockdown

A football club's community trust has won an award for its project to tackle loneliness.

Northampton Town FC Community Trust received the More than Football Award, which honours the best social initiatives in the sport across Europe.

The trust developed the project during the first Covid lockdown to support older fans who were at risk of experiencing loneliness and isolation.

Club chairman Kelvin Thomas said he was "exceptionally proud".

The project has continued and expanded since it began in 2020

The project began with a small team conducting phone call check-ins.

More than 1,200 people were contacted and it expanded to online quizzes, pen-pal schemes and socially distanced conversations.

The project now provides activities and opportunities for people to get together in person.

"To win this European wide award is simply unbelievable," Mr Thomas said.

"This particular project was a club wide effort and I am so, so proud of everyone involved.

"I made a number of calls myself so I know the impact the calls had.

"We have always felt this club has fantastic community engagement but to see that work honoured on both a national and international scale makes us all exceptionally proud."