On the 12th February, the EFL Trust held their 10th Anniversary Celebration Event, at EFL House, in front of members of the Community Partnerships from EFL Clubs, along with Shaun Harvey (Chief Executive EFL), Mike Evans (Director of Operations EFL Trust) and John Nixon (Chairman EFLT).

The EFL Trust was officially formed as a charity at the beginning of 2008 and has since advised, supported and resourced the work of EFL Club CCOs and has also funded a range of projects across the network.

Four programmes, which have been run using funding from the EFL Trust over the last 10 years, were showcased and participants from each project were interviewed by Hayley McQueen, from Sky Sports.   The Crawley Old Girls, being one of the successful projects being recognised, was represented by Founder, Carol Bates, who told the audience how the COGS started and the progress that had been made since its inception, in 2015.

On arrival, Amy Fazackerley (from the Crawley Town Community Foundation, who helped set up COGS) and Carol Bates were shown to one of the four rooms where the projects were also being showcased.  A board and video, showing details of the COGS, were available for other guests to see the progress that had been made.

From 10 ladies on the first night in April 2015, the latest figure of registered participants for the COGS stood at 148.  An incredible increase in a few years.

Both Carol and Amy were interviewed by the EFL Trust about the work that was being done and after all the guests had arrived, the interviews of the showcased projects commenced, in front of the Clubs and invited guests, including EFL Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey.  Hayley McQueen gave a speech on her history of being involved in football and then went on to interview each participant.  It was an inspirational afternoon.

Quoted from the EFL Trust website…..   “During the event, four participants shared their inspirational stories about how the EFL Trust network has significantly changed their lives. Their inspirational stories show the massive breath of the Trust’s work – Marek Hyde, a young man getting off drugs and into employment; Carol Bates, a lady that started a movement for older women to play football; Cheyenne Van Den Berg, a teenager who gained the belief to take on a world of opportunities and Darren Davies, father of Corbin Davies, a young boy who found the confidence not to be defined by his disability.”

You can read further details from the EFL Trust’s website here:  http://www.efltrust.com/efl-trust-celebrates-10-year-anniversary/

It was also a pleasure to meet up with Rachel Pavlou – The FA’s National Women’s Football Participation Manager, as Rachel has always been a great supporter of the COGS and the quote behind summed up what a great day it was.   Congratulations from all the Crawley Old Girls on 10 years of the EFL Trust, supporting and funding participation in sport.  Great work!