Watford have extended their Hornets at Home community scheme to help vulnerable supporters.

The initiative was initially launched during the coronavirus lockdown to help connect elderly or house-bound supporters with other fans who may have been able to provide them with assistance.

Squad members also spent time calling supporters to make sure they were coping during the difficult period.

The club announced today that they were extending the scheme indefinitely in order to continue providing help to those who need it.

A statement on the club website reads: "Watford FC is proud to announce that its ‘Hornets At Home’ scheme – much valued and, more importantly, much used during the initial Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year – is back, and it’s here to stay.

The club’s sense of family and community is renowned within the football industry.

Originally set up at the start of the pandemic to help those supporters who were isolated, ‘Hornets At Home’ proved to be a great success; more than 300 supporters volunteered their services and more than 2,500 supporters received calls from the club to offer support.

Watford now plan to extend the ‘Hornets At Home’ service beyond the continuing pandemic to become a permanent part of the club’s offering to supporters, as many supporters will have been vulnerable and isolated before this started and the challenges presented in recent months will remain with us for some time to come."

The club has also stated it hopes to provide help for even more people and has asked people to get in touch if they can offer support.

It continues: "The scheme’s success was built on volunteers from both inside and outside the club providing practical support to those supporters isolating. While this will remain a key feature, we are now extending the remit of the scheme to include the following groups of supporters:

Support for families of bereaved supporters

Supporters with mental health problems

Keeping in touch with supporters who live alone

Supporters with a disability

Elderly supporters

The list above is not intended to be exhaustive and we hope to be able to provide additional support on an ad hoc basis to anyone who might request our help.

In order to volunteer to provide support, or to request help for whatever reason great or small, please contact our Supporter Services Team in the first instance: ticket.office@watfordfc.com or 01923 223023"