Rovers club captain Tommy Rowe dropped in on a fitness workshop for new mums as work in the community was highlighted by the EFL’s Week of Action.
The annual event is designed to showcase the depth of community activities which are carried out by the 72 clubs in the EFL.
And is proved to be a busy week for Club Doncaster Foundation, including the new post-natal workshop held in the Foundation Fitness gym.
The six-week course is funded by Integrated Care Board in partnership with Doncaster City Council and the borough’s family hubs and is designed to bring new mums together in a supportive environment with themed baby sensory classes along with exercise opportunities for the adults.
Rowe said: “This is something close to my heart with having three kids and my wife has been through something similar, getting out of the house when the babies are growing up.
“It’s something to help out because you see the people and the staff here that do a fantastic job.
“It’s just interacting with different people and it’s interesting to hear different views because I came in to today thinking that I was probably going to hear a lot about how they were forcing themselves to come just to get out, but it was quite the opposite. A lot of the mums I’ve spoken to are wanting to do it for fitness reasons.
“They get an hour of general play with the kids and meet other mums who are probably going through what they’re going through in a different way, then having a coffee. I’ve seen a lot of smiles and a lot of good conversations.
“For me, it’s been something I wanted to work hard on for my own personal development to reach out to the club and to offer my services in whatever capacity they can be used. As players, we’re trying to work with the Foundation more.
“There are loads of elements that are helpful, but the main thing is it’s a community that’s together and everyone is here for the right reasons.”
Foundation health and wellbeing coordinator Lauren Platts is the leader of the course, along with a similar one for those in the later stages of pregnancy.
She said:“There’s nothing really free for mums and babies to attend where mums can do exercise. Anything in Doncaster that is post-natal, you have to pay for through personal trainers.
“So we thought we’d fit it into the Fit Rovers projects that we’ve ran for years anyway. It’s a bit different for mums because it’s at a football stadium.
“We’ve designed the course ourselves and that’s why we ran two pilot courses to get the mums to design it with us, so they’ve picked the hoodies, the logos, the t-shirts and everything that went well or didn’t go well.”
Along with the post-natal group, the Foundation highlighted activity in the Club Doncaster Sports College as well a visit to partner school Sunnyfields Primary in Scawthorpe where coaches worked with Year 2 pupils.
Rovers U18s dropped in on the Rovers Connects weekly session and joined in the bingo games.
Rovers first team coach Paul Green took on guest coaching for the Club Doncaster Titans disability football team, carrying out a Q&A as well as leading a shooting session.
And the week concluded with the regular LGBTQ+ group drop in, as part of the Foundation’s inclusivity programme.
Reflecting on the Week of Action, Foundation chief executive John Davis said: “The EFL week of action is a fantastic way for us and the rest of the EFL network to demonstrate the life changing work that goes on across the country.
“Here in Doncaster, we’ve looked to demonstrate the breadth of work that goes on along with the number of people we work with on a weekly basis.
“Campaigns like the #EFLWeekOfAction help us shine a light on the fantastic work of our team here in Doncaster and how we connect Doncaster Rovers FC to the community.”