Northampton Town Hero recognised by EFL Community Heroes Campaign
A Northampton Town FC Community Trust coach has been recognised as an EFL Community Hero for the work he has done delivering on various programmes ranging across; Health and Wellbeing, Inclusion, Multi Disability Football and Education around the county.
Mark Seymour, who has worked for Northampton Town Community Trust for over 10 years, said: “It's quite humbling to be recognised as an EFL Community Hero, to be quite honest, because there's so many volunteers within the club.
“This is about more than football and there's so many other people that seem like they are on the fringes but are the crutches for what we do.
“It is incredibly humbling to be recognised, because I know at the club, when you look around on any given night, you will see five or six people just giving up their time completely free of charge, but for nothing else, than to give back to the community.”
Mark works across a wide range of programmes with Northampton Town FC Community Trust, he works on; Man v Fat, Fit Cobblers, Premier League Kicks, NHS Health Checks, NTFC Multi-Disability Football Club, Pan-Disability Soccer Schools, Claret Mountaineers as well as a variety of school clubs.
Through his work with all these initiatives, he has helped over 150 participants lose weight, helped to raise over £33,000 as a founding member of the Claret Mountaineers and coached over 200 children at the Multi-Disability Football Club and NTFC Soccer Schools.
Trevor Birch, CEO of the EFL, said: “Community is a fundamental part of the EFL and its 72 Clubs’ identity. The work undertaken by Clubs has a hugely positive impact on the participants of the various programmes and in the towns and cities where people live.
“Football Clubs are trusted in their communities, and this can help to remove barriers for accessing support. Clubs are successfully addressing challenges linked to health, wellbeing, education and employment as well as helping to keep communities connected. We look forward to celebrating and recognising this incredible work in front of match-going fans during the Community Weekends.”
The EFL Community Weekends build on the success of the recent EFL Week of Action in November – where the League and its Clubs shone a light on the significant social impact Club community work has on towns and cities in England and Wales.
This was valued at over £1.24 billion a season in the latest community impact report found here.
During the 2023/24 season, EFL Football Club charities delivered 438,033 sessions across 801,661 hours with an average of 6,084 sessions and 11,134 hours of support per Club.
For more information on the EFL Community Weekends and the impact of EFL Club community work please visit efl.com