Programmes aimed at growing football often target the younger generation to inspire a whole raft of new talent in the grassroots of the game.

However, one group in Surrey has taken it upon themselves to attract mums in order to further expand the women’s game in England.

Mums and Recreational Football claimed Best Participation Initiative on Friday night at the FA Women’s Football Awards, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London, just two years after launching.

The initiative's organiser, Roxanne Bennett, hailed it as a move started on the back of parents waiting around for their children to finish training.

“I feel very proud, we’ve been doing this for a year and it’s great to be able to come along and celebrate something that is slightly different in raising participation,” she said.

“We’re aiming it at grassroots level, but we’ve decided to go to the other end of the age bracket and inspire mums and ladies back into football.

“We started with Caterham Pumas, they’re a grassroots club in Surrey with mums that sat in the cars waiting for their girls to finish football - we were wondering on how we could get them out.

“We started a five-week pilot, it went very well, and now we’ve got 30 to 40 plus women.”

The FA Women’s Football Awards celebrated an exciting year for women’s football and recognised the achievements of clubs, players, staff and the excellent work by volunteers at the grassroots level of the game.

The awards also highlighted the success of The FA’s Gameplan for Growth, launched earlier in 2017, which aims to double participation and the fanbase of the women’s game by 2020 and create sustained success at elite international level.

Roxanne believes the environment created by Mums and Recreational Football has led to ladies contacting her after not playing football since their youth, searching for a way to play the game once again.

Participants can take part in various sessions, including Soccercise, Walking Football and Walk & Talk – which are now attracting more than 30 members.

And as well as health and exercise benefits, Roxanne added the social element of the club is also burgeoning.

“It’s got people contacting us going ‘I used to play, but I never thought I could play again. I played at school when I was younger’,” she added.

“Now there’s an opportunity to play somewhere that’s not too challenging. They get to meet friends and there’s a social side too.

“People have lost weight, they’ve got their confidence back to play, even if it’s as simple as putting some boots on and giving it a go.

“Because the daughters have wanted to play, the mums have thought there’s something for them to go as well.”

For more information and to see all the award winners visitwww.thefa.com/forgirls  Join the conversation online using the hashtag #FAWomensAwards.