DHFC in the Community

Good evening and welcome to the first home game in the National League South - a new league in new surroundings. We are a displaced community and many supporters will now be making an 8 mile journey south west from Dulwich every other Saturday.

However, we must embrace this opportunity to welcome people to the club and maintain a fine tradition of community engagement. On that note, we have had to wave goodbye and say thank you to Mishi who was tireless in his efforts to promote the club over the past six seasons. He raised awareness of many charities and implemented initiatives that we continue to use.

Last season, we welcomed local schools, sports teams, groups or charities at virtually every home Saturday fixture. The carpet was pulled from underneath us when we were locked out of Champion Hill in March. Our community provision then entered a wilderness period due to issues off the pitch, until now.

We are pleased to announce Rob Hyneman to the football committee as a lead on schools engagement. Rob is deputy head teacher at Cobourg primary in Southwark and has been supporting us behind the scenes for the past couple of seasons. Rob will be looking to invite schools around Imperial Fields stadium to experience a match day and we encourage any local groups to get in touch as well.

The Supporter’s Trust have elected Alexandra Smith, Michelle Chapman and Mike McGann to lead their community projects this year. Between us, we will be working together to benefit the Hamlet diaspora here in Merton and the local area, whilst not forgetting our Southwark roots.

Due to the current situation, you may think that charity begins at home and we do urge everyone to continue to back the 12th man fund, in order to keep the club going. What sets us apart though is our commitment to supporting local causes, so we have a few ideas this year that we will be developing. First of those is our official charity partner, Redthread, who work with young victims of serious violence in the UK.

During the ‘teachable moment’ when someone is at their most vulnerable, Redthread provide practical support in the hospital setting and out in the community, to intervene in the cycle of violence. I have been at Redthread as youth worker since April 2017 at King’s College Hospital’s A&E department. The reason I proposed them was that they are also present in St George’s in Tooting and thus serve both Dulwich’s current and traditional communities. We will be doing some more write ups in the programme over the season, as well as an event tied in to a home game. If you would like to find out more please visit www.redthread.org.uk and they are looking for volunteers to run a half marathon on their behalf this autumn!

If you have any ideas, suggestions or would like to be involved then please email dhfccommunity@gmail.com

Updated 14:20 - 30 Aug 2019 by Liam Hickey