As part of the planning for the new year, Mike Evans, Chief Executive at the EFL Trust, has been looking back at the past 12 months and ahead at what is to come. The EFL Trust is the charitable arm of the EFL and was established in 2008 to oversee the work of EFL’s club community organisations (CCOs), including Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. The EFL Trust is responsible for distributing core funding from the Premier League and The PFA to each CCO and highlights community work done by clubs across the country, including at Brentford.

In a piece on the EFL Trust website, Mike Evans said that 2020 was an extraordinary year that brought unparalleled challenges. He reflected on the past 12 months and everything that a Covid-19 outbreak brought to the country. He also looked ahead to 2021.

He said: "From a work perspective, the challenges last year have been unlike any other and I spoke to many people about the dangers of fatigue and burn out. As we moved into 2021 and were met with another national lockdown, at the EFL Trust we are making sure that we focus on the importance of our people and their wellbeing. We are introducing more ways to ensure that we promote positive work life balance and task driven success in our environment.

"The response throughout 2020 to re-engineer businesses, re-imagine programme delivery and identify and secure new opportunities to support our communities is something I am extremely proud of. None of this has been easy and tough decisions around furlough, cost controls and salary freezes have had to be made within our organisation, to ensure the sustainability of our charity. We entered 2021 confident but not complacent, and remain acutely aware that factors beyond our control will continue to play a large part in our planning and delivery. We will need to continue being agile and flexible and recognise that there are likely to be many ongoing challenges."

See the full piece on the EFL Trust website here. Brentford FC Community Sports Trust are supporting people in our area through the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. See more on their website here.