Blues duo James Tarkowski and Katja Snoeijs have been recognised for their charitable efforts off the pitch after being named Everton’s PFA Community Champions for the 2023/24 season. 

Since arriving at the Club in 2022, Tarkowski has played an active role with its official charitable arm, Everton in the Community. The centre-back is always keen to meet the charity’s participants, putting them at ease and engaging with them on both a professional and personal basis while immersing himself into the programme activities of some of EitC’s flagship programmes. 

The Toffees defender consistently shows a genuine interest in finding out more about the charity’s life-changing work and the impact it has across Liverpool City Region. During the past season, Tarkowski paid a visit to the charity’s Digital Skills Lab to officially launch EitC’s new partnership with Christopher Ward and saw the new intergenerational project in action, as he got stuck into an E-STEAM session with Pass on the Memories participants and local school pupils. 

The Premier League stalwart also pledged his ongoing support to the charity at its annual Showcase event, where he joined participants from EitC’s Stand Together programme in a lindy hop swing class. Most recently, Tarkowski became an official ambassador of EitC’s partnership with the Steve Morgan Foundation to help raise awareness of the charity’s delivery of the ‘Steve Morgan Community Impact Model’. 

Tarkowski said: “I’m really proud to receive this award. Community values are at the heart of our club, so I’m honoured to have been chosen. As players we see all the time the great work that this club does in the local area and it’s a privilege to be a part of it.” 

Meanwhile, Snoeijs’ unwavering commitment and involvement with EitC has also been recognised. As well as taking part in numerous community visits throughout the season, she has actively sought opportunities to support the Club’s charity – both individually and collectively with the rest of the Women’s squad. 

The Blues striker headed to EitC’s Liverpool 4 campus earlier this year as she wanted to find out more about the bereavement support for young people across Liverpool City Region. She spent time with participants from ‘Alfie’s Squad’ and took part in art therapy t-shirt painting workshop before hearing about their personal experiences of bereavement and how the programme has benefited them.  

In addition, the Dutch international pledged her ongoing support to the work of EitC at its inaugural Showcase with Everton Women’s senior team. She got stuck into a series of Commando Joe team-building exercises with participants from the charity’s Premier League Inspires programme and by her own admission, found it incredibly rewarding to see a smile on the faces of all the young people she engaged with at the event. 

Snoeijs said: “It is an honour to receive this award. As a football player, you don’t always realise how lucky you are and the position you are in. I’m just really fortunate I can do what I love every day but with that in mind, I feel it’s important to give back as much as possible. Everton in the Community do some excellent work across Liverpool, so if I can help to make even a small difference, then that’s what I want to do.” 

Sue Gregory, CEO at EitC, added: “James and Katja’s contributions to the charity stems way beyond visiting our programmes, they’ve both gone out of their way throughout the season to engage and build a rapport with the participants who benefit from our work. Their willingness to support EitC is unmatched, and we extend our thanks to them both as well as their fellow teammates and management staff for all of their efforts off the pitch."

Click here to find out more about how you can support Everton in the Community.