Not for ourselves, but for a very good local cause. You may recall that early last year we held a Foodbank collection day to support the work carried out by Pecan, who run the Southwark Foodbank. Their staff and volunteers were blown away by the support shown by our fans, with a cash sum of £142.07 raised, on top of an amazing 393.68 kilos of food donated, which equated to enough goods to feed at least 30 families.

A few weeks ago there was an article in the ‘Southwark News’ which reminded ourselves here at Champion Hill to their on-going work and current plight they are in. Donations are urgently needed as families who rely on free school meals face going hungry in the summer break.

Community Liaison lead from the Football Committee Mishi Morath said:

“This is a great & humbling way to begin our season off of the pitch, as we continue to reach out to our local community. To be frank, I didn’t know what to expect last year, and was overwhelmed at how much our fans gave. I am sure, if they can afford it, they will be just as generous this time around”.

Volunteers from the Southwark Foodbank team will be staffing a collection point inside the ground before the match, and from half-time onwards will be rattling collection buckets too, for monetary donations with no coin too small and no paper note too large!

In particular they would especially like donations of:

Coffee
Long life milk
Rice
Long life fruit juices
Rice pudding
Tinned meats, particularly non-pork types

Toiletries
and
Tinned fruit

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club chairman Liam Hickey explained:

“We hope to get the balance right by supporting good causes such as this, without our fans getting ‘collection fatigue’. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to add a little extra to our weekly shop over the next few days to bring along do so not only because we care, but because we know that Dulwich Hamlet are a shining example of the whole Club pulling together to help others in our local community”.

As well as the collecting on the day complimentary tickets for the match are being donated to the Pecan team to hand out to their clients, who are currently not able to afford to watch any football in the flesh. Another batch are being offered to them, for their volunteers & their families to use, as a ‘thank you’ for the unsung work they do for our community all over the London Borough of Southwark, from Bermondsey in the north all the way through Camberwell & Peckham, up to our heartland of Dulwich at the southern end.