COMMUNITY TRUST WINS NATIONAL AWARD

Dundee United Community Trust (DUCT) has won the prestigious “Best Professional Club in the Community Award” for 2019. The gong was collected at the Grassroots Awards Ceremony at Hampden Park on 19th September 2019 and sees the Community Trust recognised as leaders in Community Engagement and Development.

This latest award comes after recently being selected as the “East Region Best Football for All Project”.

Head of Operations for the Community Trust, Jamie Kirk said, “I’m so proud that our work in and for the local community on behalf of the United Family has been recognised in being named the Best Professional Club in the Community.  My team put in an enormous amount of work every day and while none of us are in it for awards, it’s always nice to be recognised for good work.  The work we do with the support of the Football Club makes a massive difference to the people we work with and I’m thrilled that this has been recognised.  There is some great work going on in Football Trusts up and down the Country and it’s really humbling to be considered as being the best at what we do.”

David Dorward, Chair of the Trust added, “Dundee United Community Trust has come a long way in the 3 years since its inception, and this National award is indeed richly deserved recognition for the efforts of all the DUCT staff, volunteers, the Football Club and the local community. In particular I would wish to pay tribute to Jamie Kirk and his staff  and to my colleagues on the Trust Board who have all worked tirelessly to ensure that our Trust has a positive impact on the lives of people in our local community. Finally we could not deliver our extensive range of community based services, without the excellent support we receive from the Club. The Club and the Trust working in partnership are making a real difference in many  people’s lives.

DUFC Managing Director Mal Brannigan, commented, “To be in receipt of such an award so soon after becoming a Trust body is testament to the incredible and diverse work that Jamie and his staff have successfully delivered across Dundee and the region. The Trust Board should be extremely proud of this achievement and the Club will continue to support the growth of the Trust and the work that it does within the community.”

The Community Trust would like to thank all staff members, volunteers, participants and sponsors/funders for their ongoing assistance and support in helping us to help the local community.  The new five year strategic plan  - which will launch publicly in the coming months – will outline an ambitious vision for the Trust and the City and everyone linked to the Trust is looking forward to what the future holds.

DUCT delivers a wide variety of projects to over 500 regular service users every week with participants ranging from 18 months to 90 years old.  We provide support in areas such as education and attainment, assistance to local families in areas of multiple deprivation, children and adults with a disability as well as hosting targeted events throughout the year such as our Christmas Day meal.  The growth within the activities of the Charity has been substantial since taking on the responsibility of delivering community engagement activity on behalf of the Football Club under three years ago.