A Co Fermanagh football club has scooped a prestigious prize from the Irish Football Association for their recent community work in the area.
NFC Kesh won the South West Regional Club of the Year 2021 prize at the Grassroots Football Awards, following a series of community events and fundraising efforts for local charities and carers.
During the presentation of the award the IFA commended the voluntary work of some of the club’s members during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Club committee member Malcolm Weir said the club was delighted to receive the award, and added it was as much about the club’s work off the pitch as its success on it.
“Over the last year to 18 months everyone has had a tough time, the way we look at it is that we are a community club,” Malcolm told MyFermanagh.
“It’s an honour for everybody in the club as well as all the committee members, we all muck in and it’s not just about the club itself but also for the town."
The club ran a number of fundraising events throughout the pandemic, including a lockdown prize draw with the help of a local DJ which raised more than £12,000 for local carers.
A number of members of the club also got together to deliver food parcels during the periods of the most stringent lockdown measures.
Malcolm added: “It’s something we had to sit down and do with football being stopped for so long.
“We didn’t want to sit in silence and we wanted to do something for the town.
“We recently partnered with Praxis Care who run the disability homes in the town as well, so we’re not stopping.
“It’s good to win this award but we need to move on and improve and gain new things, and help more people.
“We all sort of have a wee bug now for the community side of it and seeing the rewards that we can get out of it.”
The club will now progress on to an overall NI award, where it will compete with four other regional winners of the IFA award.
