When Heather Parker, 76, lost her husband to COVID-19 last year her beloved West Bromwich Albion stepped in to provide support and try to reduce feelings of isolation.
The restrictions of lockdown affected Heather's contact with family and friends at a time when she needed them most, but she found help in the shape of West Brom's charitable arm, the Albion Foundation.
The Foundation delivered a food parcel each week to Heather to take away the pressure of food shopping, while she speaks regularly with one of the scheme's workers, Lucy.
“It is nice to have that feeling that someone cares enough to put themselves on the line if I needed anybody," Heather told the official club website.
"I'm really grateful for the food parcels. Everything that they bring me is all heavy. It is less shopping for me to carry if I go out once a week, or if I don't go out at all.
“[I have] weekly phone calls and also a number I could phone at any time if I was stuck with shopping, prescriptions, or I need help with anything that was important.
"I do know that if I was really stuck and I couldn't rely on family or friends, I could contact the Foundation and I would get some help.
"That's a secure feeling to know there's always somebody that I can turn to if I need help."
Continued support
West Brom and the Albion Foundation have continued to offer a wide range of support to their community in the past year, from distributing over 100,000 food parcels to most recently donating 200 books to a local primary school.