Rotherham United has been unveiled as the Coca-Cola Community Club of the Year for the North East and is now in the running to take the national accolade at the Football League Awards 2012.
The Millers were considered the best example of a Community Club in the region and will face four other finalists from the South East, South West, Midlands and North West respectively.
Undertaking key community projects in health, social inclusion, education and sports participation, Rotherham displayed strong levels of engagement across all categories. Through its work Rotherham has managed to connect with over 61,000 people locally in the last year, a really impressive statistic.
The overall winner will be decided at the Football League Awards, held at The Brewery, London on Sunday 11th March 2012.
Judges will be looking to recognise the best overall community scheme from the 2011 calendar year based on their engagement with the local community.
Full shortlist includes:
• Bury
• Milton Keynes Dons
• Notts County
• Portsmouth
• Rotherham United
Last year's Community Club of the Year was Southend United who displayed strong policy in all of the key areas, especially when looking at 'Healthy with the Blues Bodycare' project.
Head of Community Jamie Noble said: "I'm over the moon with winning Community Club of the Year, for our region. Our nomination for the national award is a proud moment for the club, trustees and the staff who work tirelessly everyday to change the lives of families in Rotherham Communities through the power of sport. The nomination is national recognition of the extremely high standard of work we aspire to deliver. The team we have here in the Trust has evolved over the years and represents the many issues Rotherham faces on a daily basis which includes reducing anti social behaviour to preventing health issues and breaking down the barriers to learning those with a disability face." We should not forget the time that our volunteers give us on a daily basis, without them, the coaching staff and young apprentices we would not have received the nomination."
Mike Evans, General Manager of The Football League Trust, said: "Community engagement is a core value of The Football League and its clubs who have once again demonstrated their commitment to making a difference to local peoples' lives through the power of football.
"We saw community schemes doing some superb work in 2011 and I wish all those shortlisted clubs the best of luck on the night."
To find out more about The Football League Awards, and for a full list of Award categories, please visit www.FLAwards.com.
