Double Nomination For EitC At English Veterans Awards

Everton in the Community is honoured to have been shortlisted in two categories for the forthcoming English Veterans Awards 2020.

Delivered in association with the ABF The Solders’ Charity, the English Veterans Awards recognise veterans in business, fitness, sport and the wider community and companies that support the military community and are open to all former military veterans that are doing great things in England.

This year’s awards will take place in Solihull in early October and with 10 different award categories ranging from ‘Role Model of the Year’ to ‘Contribution to the Fitness Industry’, Everton in the Community’s ‘Everton Veterans Hub’ programme has been shortlisted as a finalist in the ‘Health and Wellbeing Award’ category whilst its Project Manager Dave Curtis has made it onto the short list for the ‘Inspiration of the Year Award’.

Launched in January 2016 as ‘Knowsley Veterans' Hub’, Everton in the Community caters for all serving and ex-serving veterans across the region and aims to engage ex-service personnel who are at risk of isolation with an array of social activities combined with sport training and the programme has been recognised for the positive impact it has had on the physical and mental health of its participants as they overcome the transition from army life to civilian life.

Delivered in partnership with Knowsley Council and funded by The Big Lottery Fund, the programme was renamed to ‘Everton Veterans Hub’ in November 2019 to reflect its inclusivity for all veterans across Liverpool City Region. The past four years have seen the programme support more than 650 veterans with a range of engagement tools, support mechanisms and evidence-based behavioural change methods to improve the lives of veterans and their families.


And it is the man at the forefront of the programme who has been shortlisted as ‘Inspiration of the Year’, Everton Veterans' Hub Programme Manager Dave Curtis. A veteran himself, Dave was serving in Afghanistan in 2009 when the vehicle he was travelling in with two colleagues was hit by a suicide bomber resulting in Dave breaking his back in two places and his shoulder in seven places – one colleague he was travelling with sadly died and the other sustained injuries.

Dave still lives with PTSD as a result of the attack and first engaged with Everton in the Community in 2011 as a participant before being employed full-time by the charity in 2014 and now manages the Everton Veterans Hub programme, using his own experiences to help support other veterans.

Speaking about the dual nomination, EitC Health and Wellbeing Manager Johnnie Garside said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted as finalists in two categories in the English Veterans Awards. We have been delivering our veterans programme for a number of years now and our participants enjoy not only great improvements in their health and wellbeing but also enjoy the camaraderie that the group brings – many of them comment that they’ve not had that since they left the military and that is largely down to David who manages the programme so well.

“David is an incredible inspiration and his story of overcoming the odds and refusing to let the adversity he has experienced stop him from achieving his goals has positively impacted the lives of many people. He epitomises what Everton in the Community is all about and we are so proud of him being recognised in this way”.

To find out more about the Veterans Awards click here.