The award, which was not given last year because of the pandemic, was set up in 2016 to honour a coach, participant or volunteer on the Chelsea Foundation’s social inclusion programmes who has shown the commitment, dedication and spirit that the legendary Blues striker was famous for.

The recipient this year was Ellie Lock, pictured above with Lynn Osgood next to Peter’s statue outside the West Stand. Ellie worked tirelessly during the pandemic to ensure the older adults in our Foundation programmes are supported and have access to physical activity and reminiscence sessions.

Many of the older people Ellie works with are socially isolated and at high risk of loneliness, as well as having complex medical needs which are often embellished due to low levels of physical activity. During the pandemic Ellie developed provisions for all to be online so they could continue to receive a high level of support.

At the same time, Ellie continued to develop new relationships with partners such as Age UK, Wimbledon Guild and Open Age. She has now started to deliver face-to-face sessions again and has even set up a brand new Women Only Walking Football sessions.

Ellie said: 'It means everything. I was saying to a few friends that it’s really nice to get that recognition for the work that we’ve done throughout the pandemic over the last couple of years. We want to do that work anyway because we love what we do and helping others but to get that well done and extra thank you is really lovely.

‘It was really tough at first. Being digital and using technology is quite foreign for a lot of the seniors we work with so it was important to make sure everyone could get online and stay connected. It was a real group effort with everyone coming together to see how we could help these people, teaching them how to use Zoom or even just emails, giving out iPads to give them access to getting online, or just having catch-ups over the phone if they couldn’t.

‘We wanted to stay in touch as much as possible and having that little bit of contact when we weren’t allowed to see people meant a lot.’

Lynn Osgood also had words of praise for Ellie and her important work.

‘She’s a very deserving winner,' she added. 'In fact, all the people that have been put forward have been working incredibly hard so it’s lovely to have that positivity around. 'One of the people she worked with is here with us today and signing her praises, which is just brilliant.’

The award was created in 2016, on behalf of the Peter Osgood Trust, which closed a year earlier after raising more than £100,000 to support various charities. The remaining funds were donated to the Chelsea Foundation.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:2016 - Leanne Tozer2017 - Tom Horrigan2018 – Ellie Crabb2019 – Harry Baker2020 – George Carroll