Albion in the Community invited to Parliament

Projects run by Albion in the Community saw the Seagulls named South East Checkatrade Community Club of the Year, and a delegation from the charity was invited to the House of Commons to celebrate alongside other regional winners of the English Football League (EFL) Awards.

Martin Perry, chair of trustees, Matt Dorn, chief executive officer, and Phil Baldwin, head of finance and operations, attended the ceremony earlier this month where they were presented with the South East prize for the second season in a row.

The six regional winners were selected by an independent judging panel including: The Times’ chief football writer, Henry Winter; football policy advisor at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sam Haylen; director of CSR at the PFA, John Hudson; and Sport England’s strategic lead for relationships, Greg Clements.

AITC was praised for the wide range of its work and the creativity of its programmes. The charity worked with more than 30,000 people in Sussex over the last 12 months and now runs around 60 different projects and programmes.

Mike Evans, EFL Trust director of operations, praised the work completed by all six winning clubs via the work of their community trusts.

He said: “Without question this was the strongest year we have ever had in terms of quality of Community Club of the Year applications, giving the judging panel some really tough decisions.

“All of our club trusts should be rightly proud of their efforts, and for the six selected clubs it’s a tremendous honour to be recognised in Parliament and to be showcased in the House of Commons.

“They are deserving winners and great ambassadors for the work of all EFL clubs in their communities across the country.”

Matt Dorn, chief executive officer at AITC, said: “This award is testament to the professionalism and dedication displayed by our staff on a daily basis.

“I would also like to recognise the outstanding efforts of all the people who participate in our many programmes. Without their hard work, AITC would not be the success that it is. Really, this award is for the 30,000 people we worked with over the last year.”

The overall winner will now be announced at the EFL Awards on Sunday, April 9.

For more information on AITC, visit: www.albioninthecommunity.org.uk