THE work Blackburn Rovers does in the community has been recognised after the club won a prestigious award.

Blackburn Rovers Community Trust won the Professional Sports Club Community Programme of the Year at the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Community Sport and Recreation Awards.

The accolade, sponsored by the Professional Footballers Association, was presented to head of education Joanne Watson by Prince Edward at St James’s Palace in London.

The judges had been impressed with the hard work of the Trust in the community over the past year.

They said the club had shown it was a shining light in the local and wider community, using the power and passions that football ignited to help tackle local issues.

Programmes had been created and put into action geared towards improving education, health and social inclusion.

Tim Lamb, chief executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance, said: “This award recognises the fantastic and vital role that the Blackburn Rovers Community Trust plays in supporting its local community.

“While Blackburn Rovers hasn’t had the easiest of times on the pitch over the past year, the Trust on the other hand has massively lived up to the legacy set by the late Jack Walker to show that Blackburn Rovers is still very much a club of the people.”

Jason Lowe, Rovers midfielder and Community Trust player ambassador, said: “This award is no more than the Trust deserves for all the hard work it puts in while we are working hard on the pitch.

“Having come through the ranks here, I am very pleased to support this great cause, which uses the power of football to reach out to the community, not just through sport, but benefits local people in terms of health, education and wellbeing.

“I am looking forward to establishing a long-lasting relationship with the Trust and will do everything possible to spread the word and promote the good work that they do.”