The scheme is primarily aimed at creating, developing and delivering opportunities for children and adults to participate in high quality physical activity irrespective of age, gender, ability, ethnicity and social circumstance.

DCITC at Derby County was instigated in 1999 through the creation of an unincorporated association between Derby County Football Club and the Footballers' Further Education and Vocational Training Society (FFE & VTS).

This association ceased to exist in its current form due to the dissolution of FFE & VTS in November 2007.

The DCITC programme currently delivers a diverse range of activities throughout the county of Derbyshire, engaging with in excess of 30,000 children and adults each year in the core delivery programme.

The scheme has a total of 24 full-time staff that administers and deliver the programme on behalf of the football club.

It also has specific officers in place enabling a focus on the three key areas of social inclusion, women and girls and also disability.

In addition, DCITC employs seven full-time staff who are externally funded.

To ensure that the community programme embraces local, regional and national agendas it has been vital to access external funding to meet the demands of the changing face of the community it serves.

Over £800,000 has been secured over the past three years from organisations such as The Football Foundation, The Football Association, Derbyshire Sport and UEFA.

DCITC currently operates one of the biggest weekend coaching clubs in the country.

The programme delivered every Saturday and Sunday morning involves 500 children aged between four and 11 in a structured coaching programme.

The weekend club is not only a source of valuable income but also serves as a useful recruitment tool for the Derby County Football Club Academy.

In 2008 DCITC recorded a turnover of over £500,000, placing it amongst the bigger schemes in the country.

This income allows the funding of 24 full-time staff and over 30 part-time staff who work to grow and develop the community programme.

It is worthy of note that in 2003 DCITC had just three full-time staff.

The vision for the future is to continually grow the scheme by utilising further funding opportunities that can be accessed through charitable trust status.

Derby County in the Community will be managed by an appointed community manager who reports directly into a board of trustees.

The trustees have now been identified and represent key agencies from the business and community sector, all with an interest and passion for community work.

As a Championship club within the Football League Trust, Derby County in the Community will be working through their accreditation levels with the ambition of achieving the gold standard during the 2009/10 season.

The standards devised by the Football League Trust recognise the commitment and excellence community programmes at football clubs strive for and adhere to.

In September 2008 DCITC successfully achieved Bronze status and has since progressed to the Silver level.

This has resulted in £48,000 of funding allocated form the Football League Trust.

This money will be utilised within the core programme to sustain some ongoing activities and create further growth.

The funding will also allow us to increase our annual budget for continued professional development allowing DCITC staff opportunities to diversify their levels and range of qualifications.

A major part of the funding received will allow us to develop our programme for girls' and women's football.

With our partners at the Derbyshire County FA and Derby County Ladies we hope to match this money with further external funding to put in place a five year development programme that will create further and greater opportunities for girls and women throughout Derbyshire to train, play, coach and watch football.