National award for community activity programme

A programme led by Community Action Derby encouraging the city’s most deprived area to become more physically active has scooped a national award.

DE23 Active recently won the Community Group of the Year at the British Muslim Awards.

DE23 Active, which is part of the national ‘Active Through Football’ programme, works in Normanton and Arboretum and took the innovative approach early on to broaden its offer from just football to fully engage the community.

As well as football sessions, it has promoted chair-based exercise, chill and chai sessions and one of the country’s only Muslim women-only swimming sessions, held at Everyone Active’s Moorways Sports Village.

The programme, which is backed by a consortium of partners, including Derby County Community Trust, Derby City Council and Derbyshire FA, began in 2022 with a grant of £525,000 and has flourished ever since.

Helen Britten, programme lead at Community Action Derby, said: “We were in the company of some amazing finalists so to be recognised nationally with this award is a great honour and reflects the impact the programme has had.

“The key is making activity accessible and empowering those within the community to take control and promote change from within.”