Millers community trust are top of the league
Rotherham United have been awarded League One Community Club of the Season after the Football Club charity, Rotherham United Community Trust (RUCT), engaged with over 15,000 unique participants and generated over £15 million in social value over 2023/24 season
The Club continues to drive innovation, inclusivity and impact-driven initiatives from empowering women through menopause support, uniting diverse communities through football, or creating life-changing employment opportunities. The judging panel recognised that the work of RUCT is transforming lives and making a lasting difference.
The Trust also had to react to 2024 race riots in Rotherham, intensifying its efforts to rebuild trust, foster unity and strengthen community cohesion.
RUCT expanded its United for Communities initiative, implementing a series of activities to break down barriers and encourage positive interactions, leading to 85% of participants reporting an increased understanding of different cultures and backgrounds.
EFL Chief Executive, Trevor Birch, said: “The EFL Community Awards are a celebration of the role and collective impact football has in communities across England and Wales. Hearing such powerful stories from our winners reinforces the capabilities EFL Clubs have in not only changing the landscape of our communities, but in changing lives too.
“EFL Club charities collectively support over 1 million people across England and Wales every season, and these awards highlight only a fraction of the programmes and initiatives that operate every single day.
"Our 72 Clubs are at the forefront of helping to tackle societal challenges and adapting the services they offer to better meet the needs of their communities. It is this ability to be agile and responsive to individual community needs that makes this work so impactful.”
The club said: “We would like to thank everyone involved in helping us to achieve this award and, indeed, to our supporters and participants across the borough who make recognition of this nature possible through their backing.”
The awards, which celebrate the outstanding work EFL Football Club charities are delivering in their local communities, honoured winners across all three divisions in the categories of Community Player of the Season, Community Club of the Season, and Community Project of the Season.
The judging panel included former England Lioness, Rachel Brown-Finnis, former EFL footballer turned Sky Sports pundit, Jobi McAnuff, sports journalist, Henry Winter and the PFA’s Dave Palmer.