Bristol City Robins Foundation initiative named community project of the season in football awards

A project led by Bristol City’s official charity has been named the community project of the season in a national football awards ceremony.   

The Robins Foundation’s ADD Mentor Project, which supports young people at risk of going to prison, received the award at the EFL Awards in London. 

The initiative supports young people identified by the police by using a comprehensive mentor scheme to help steer them away from negative influences.     

It sees trusting relationships built between known young people in the community and the mentors (who both have lived experience of the challenges the young people are dealing with) to give them an opportunity to change.     

The project delivers a major impact in the club’s local area, the Robins says, helping to transform the lives of its participants and acting as a catalyst for social change.      

Police reports have shown 100 per cent non-engagement with anti-social behaviour with each mentee impacted in year two of the project. 

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The ADD Mentor Project has been named the overall winner for delivering the most unique and impactful community project of the 2023/24 campaign, after first being named divisional winner for the Championship in this category.

Speaking after winning the award, Robins Foundation’s chief development officer, James Edwards, who wrote and secured the funding for the project, said: “We are delighted to win because there were several good projects nominated, but we’ve done it by doing the best we can every single day.

“The impact has been huge, for example, we’ve helped a girl that was struggling a lot, but she has just passed her GCSEs and is going onto a sports degree, so it’s important for us to continue helping these people.”