The Trust began working in partnership with the medium secure mental health hopsital Guild Lodge, which is for men and women in Lancashire and South Cumbria and based just outside Preston in Goosnargh, in March 2019.
The partnership was kicked off as PNECET opened a new outdoor pitch at the Guild Lodge facility with former PNE defender Tommy Spurr in attendance. Staff from the Trust deliver football and multi-sports sessions at the hospital once each week.
As well as football sessions, PNECET also aim to increase participation levels for sedentary service users by running multi skills sessions which slowly introduces physical activity to their daily life. In addition to this, the Trust delivers sessions as part of its Weight Management programme for service users of Guild Lodge.
Service users also have the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications through PNECET with these qualifications enabling service users to progress on to voluntary or paid work in the future. One service users has even gone onto volunteer for PNECET since being on the Guild Lodge programme.
The hospital also has a staff and service user team that play football in a community inclusion league run by Lancashire FA, as representatives of Preston North End.