Rams star Stephen Pearson turned his hand to a spot of wood-turning this week as he helped youth charity The Prince's Trust complete a recreation area for kids at Hardwick Hall in the north of the county.
Stephen made the trip on Tuesday to parkland attached to the hall as part of the Premier League's "Creating Chances" campaign.
Derby County regularly sponsors Challenge Teams on behalf of The Prince's Trust - and on this occasion 12 hard-working youngsters have used wooden stakes to create a balancing area on a woodland walk that skirts the lake at Hardwick, a National Trust property.
Stephen chatted with the youngsters and then donned hard hat and steel-capped boots to finish off a Derby County stake, complete with the club's logo.
"As players it's sometimes easy to forget how much great work football clubs do out in the community," he told dcfc.co.uk. "I've really enjoyed meeting the youngsters and congratulate them on what they have achieved at Hardwick."
The Prince's Trust gives practical and financial support to projects, developing key workplace skills such as confidence and motivation. It works with 14 to 30 year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. The Prince of Wales's charity has helped more than 550,000 young people since 1976 and supports 100 more each day. Almost three in four young people The Trust helped last year moved into work, education or training.
Derby County has been a long-term supporter of the Football Initiative and ourFootball in The Community Department provides work placements, coaching sessions, stadium tours, raffle prizes, match tickets and presentation events to help support young people on the Trust's Team programme, a 12 week course of personal development training delivered locally by Derby College. Over the last 10 years the club has worked with 28 Prince's Trust Teams.
The Hardwick youngsters - Team 86 - are based in Somercotes and after a week-long residential course at Drum Hill in Derbyshire they are now working hard on a community project at the National Trust property at Hardwick Hall.
Further information about The Prince's Trust is available at www.princes-trust.org.uk or on 0800 842 842.
