Watford have extended their Hornets at Home scheme as they continue to provide support for people struggling with life in lockdown.

The scheme was launched in March last year when the first lockdown restrictions were announced to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and links isolated and vulnerable fans with volunteers to make sure they receive any help they may be missing out on.

Over 300 fans volunteered to offer their help and more than 4,000 supporters received calls from the club, including from former and current players, offering support.

Watford announced in November that due to the success of the scheme, it would be brought in permanently, so that vulnerable supporters can still be offered help beyond the current pandemic situation.

Additionally, they have launched two new strands to the project as they look to widen the reach of who they can offer support to, with the Checking In and Phone Your Friend initiatives.

Checking In offers lonely or isolated supporters a call with the club's supporter services team should they want a chat, while the Phone Your Friend service enables fans to ask the club to reach out to friends or family who may appreciate a conversation with someone from the Hornets.

The news was announced via a statement on the club website that reads: "‘Phone Your Friend’ and ‘Checking In’ are two official new strands now joining Watford FC’s much-loved and much-used ‘Hornets At Home’ scheme.

"For those supporters who are feeling lonely, or just want to pick up the phone and have a chat, the Supporter Services team will be delighted to hear you ‘Checking In’ with them.

So simply give us a call, or drop us a line with your contact details to the email address below and we’ll call you back at a time convenient to you.

"Know a friend or family member who’d appreciate a one-to-one conversation? Or you feel really needs one right now?

Whether it’s for reasons good (birthday, anniversary, special achievement, etc.) or bad (depressed, worried, alone, scared, etc.), let us know the story behind your request and we’ll then give you a ring to discuss things a bit further before allocating someone appropriate to make that call.

Likely, it’ll be one of our first-team squad or a well-known ex-player – maybe even one of our newly-commissioned Hornets Ambassadors."

More information on both initiatives can be found on the Watford club website.