Stevenage Football Club and Stevenage FC Foundation today received an award and £100 cheque from the Stevenage Neighbourhood Watch Association in-partnership with Hertfordshire Constabulary...
Residents in Stevenage who are part of the OWL Neighbourhood Watch Crime Prevention system – which has almost 160,000 addresses in Hertfordshire registered - were asked to nominate people that have gone the extra mile or shown a specific act of kindness to keep them or their family safe and well during the COVID-19 outbreak.
After receiving many nominations for its Community Careline work, Stevenage Football Club has been named as the district winner of the award and received a cheque from Chief Inspector Simon Tabert and John Bloxham of Neighbourhood Watch to contribute towards the Careline’s services.
The Club and Foundation has teamed together for the past three months to help local residents in the form of daily sandwich deliveries, prescription collections and errand running services as well as phone support to isolated persons who are in-need of a friendly chat.
“We are absolutely delighted to receive this award,” Foundation CEO Joe Goude said.
“Everyone at Stevenage FC and Stevenage FC Foundation set out initially to just do their bit and support people that needed help in our local community when this all began back in March. As we have moved through this period we have been fortunate to be able to work with some amazing staff, volunteers and use the resources we have available to impact a lot people.
“The one thing we’ve taken from this is that we can play a part in positively supporting our local community in ways we hadn’t considered previously and we are working hard to ensure we can continue to do that.
“For those people to put us forward for this award, thank you, it means so much to everyone that has been involved in Careline so far.”
Commenting on the Club’s community work, Chief Inspector Simon Tabert said, “Stevenage Football Club have done an amazing job, during what has been a very difficult time for many of our local residents. They have provided a valuable service and made a huge difference to those most affected by the lockdown measures. We are extremely lucky to have them and very grateful for their efforts in our community.”
John Bloxham, Stevenage District Coordinator of Neighbourhood Watch added, “National Neighbourhood Watch Week was a perfect opportunity to send a thank you to the many people in Stevenage who, by their caring and selfless acts of kindness, made life easier for those who were not able to carry out some essential everyday tasks due to the pandemic.
“Stevenage Football Club received nominations from local people who, right from the start were helped with shopping, picking up prescriptions, sandwich deliveries and weekly check in friendly chats with people living on their own.
“We have been so impressed and touched by what they have done and are continuing to do. They have always shown themselves to be a great asset for the town, on and off the pitch, and they continue to shine.”
Contact the Community Careline by calling 01438 222222 between 10am-4pm from Monday to Friday if you have any questions or are in-need of help.
To signup to Neighbourhood Watch, register at www.owl.co.uk/herts.
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