ADD-Mentor crowned EFL Community Project of the Season.

On Sunday, April 14th, the 'ADD Mentor Project' by the Robins Foundation, the official charity of the City, won the Community Project of the Season award at the 2024 EFL Awards in London.

After being named divisional winner for the Championship in this category, celebrated at an event in the House of Commons, Bristol City has been named the overall winner for delivering the most unique and impactful community project of the 2023/24 campaign. 

Since its inception, the ADD-Mentor project has supported young people identified by the police as being at risk of going to prison, using a comprehensive mentor scheme to help steer them away from negative influences. 

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

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

Speaking after winning the award, Robins Foundations 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.”