For those of you who don’t already know, I took over Ste Barton’s role as Engagement Officer in February, and in typical LHFC style, in the blink of an eye, March was here.
The month kicked off with an LHFC Volunteer meeting to confirm attendees supporting the men’s tournament that starts Tuesday 27th March.
“The Spirit of Merseyside League” I have been busy contacting all the hostels across The City Region inviting them to join the tournament. With the help of “Barto,” all the information packs have been sent out, and I’ve been visiting hostels with the new promo tournament flyer created by Fran. I have met lots of new people, and we now have 20 teams registered in mid-March.
Ark
Ambition Sefton
Asylum links
Change
Croft
CTL
Derby house
EITC
Green Lane Men’s Hostel
Homeground
Launch Pad
Mass
Mental Health
Park View
Quays
Step one
Street League
Victory Outreach
Whitechapel
YMCA
I have met lots of new people, and the tournament prep is in full swing. The first month will raise awareness of racism within the sport, and we will be joined by the “Show Racism the Red Card” team. We can confirm that the lovely Gee Walker from The Anthony Walker Foundation will be opening the tournament.
I attended another very productive LHFC monthly staff meeting today at our HQ in LCVS. Tournament staff rotas confirmed all registered teams have been sent over to Stuey in the county FA, the Photographers have been briefed and all VIP visitors invited. Last but not least, catering has been finalised and lunch will be provided by The Back Kitchen team.
Our lovely community engagement workers, Shelly from Tesco Park Road and Lorraine from Asda, will be kindly supporting the tournament with fresh fruit and juices.
Two weeks before the kickoff and we are all getting ready for the BBC to visit with a film crew to film one of our men’s football sessions at the Power League, Kirkdale, Liverpool. All teams are made up to hear our Patron John bishop will be joining the film crew, and we will be televised on Sport Relief. The excitement is contagious; the phone hasn’t stopped ringing to find out more about our Sport Relief filming date. In spite of us keeping our VIP visitor’s arrival date Top Secret, the team is thrilled that we will have a national platform to highlight what LHFC is all about. We can also demonstrate directly to the nation on primetime TV that we care about so much #MoreThanJustFootball
John Bishop Sports Relief 2018
The teams arrived in high spirits as always and the day went fantastically well. Jess & Bucko were chosen to be interviewed and tell their stories, again they done LHFC proud they were terrific, giving heartfelt background accounts of what brought them to LHFC and where they are in their life journeys now.
John Bishop was brilliant he cheered the teams on and stayed all afternoon chatting and posing for selfies with the teams. He had lunch with the teams and enjoyed one of our Veggie burgers from The Back Kitchen. The crew was pleasantly surprised to discover we catered for everyone, and even provided soya milk for those who have lactose intolerance.
John AKA The Bish, as the lads call him, even made time to give lengthy interviews to our Liverpool John Moore’s University students. They were studying the impact of community engagement and fitness levels with a particular focus on men’s mental health.
The day ended with everyone on a natural high, one of the team’s support workers from Tranmere Rovers Mental Health team called me later to say that one of his team couldn’t take the smile off his face.
Finally, Sport Relief was aired and our CEO John was first highlighting the work of LHFC. John talked about how the club engages and supports some of the most vulnerable people in our great City.
The publicity and feedback were phenomenal, and hopefully will enable us to do more and reach more people. The visit was a perfect warm-up to the start of our league.
Spirit of Merseyside League
The league day arrived, and it must have been one of the wettest this year. However, in spite of the rain, we had a high turnout. By 10 am all teams were registered and Gee Walker kicked off the new season.
The CEO of Sovini group Roy Williams presented LHFC with a cheque for £5000.00 from our sponsors One Vision Housing.
The day was another great success. Our Ambassador Chris Foy and Ann O’Byrne both gave very moving speeches which motivated the players.
https://www.facebook.com/liverpoolhomelessfootballclub/videos/1357020051067935/
The County FA has all the scores and has set the fixtures for 24th April world health day. The day will raise awareness of men’s health and promote self-health checks. There will be visits from LiveWire, NHS, and other support agencies.
There are still some places available so if anyone wants to register contact me asap. All details are on the website and our FaceBook page.
You can download a registration pack or email me at engagementofficer@liverpoolhomelessfootballclub.com