Fulham FC Foundation’s Premier League Kicks programme engages thousands of young people in our community through football each season, providing opportunities for workshops, qualifications, mentoring and social action along the way. One of our Kicks groups from a weekly free football session held in West Norwood recently delivered a social action project supporting the homeless population in their community through Crisis Croydon.
Two of our Kicks participants Zedekiah and Isaiah, who are part of our Kicks Mentoring sessions, planned and delivered a social action project based around supporting the homeless. In November 2023, these two young people shared that as part of completing the Fulham FC Foundation Social Action Challenge they wanted to make an impact in their local community by donating essential items to homeless people in the surrounding area.
Zedekiah and Isaiah researched a charity in their local area who could help with distributing the items and came across the charity Crisis Croydon.
After buying several items consisting of t-shirts, hoodies, socks, and hats, the participants were able to have a guided tour of Crisis Croydon and deliver the items. They also heard about the work and support the charity do to support local homeless people.
Crisis Croydon supports people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness through multiple ways at their centre.
Research shows that at least 309,000 people in England are without a home (December 2023), including 140,000 children. This figure rose by 14% (38,100) from 2022.
Leigh Hall, Engagement and Assessment Operations Manager, said: :"We are really grateful on behalf of Crisis Skylight Croydon for the support from Fulham FC and the young people that chose Crisis as their charity. Our members have already benefitted from the donation and it;s support like this that enables us to continue working to End Homelessness for more people."
Jack Roberts, Youth Engagement Officer at Fulham FC Foundation, said: "Delivering Zed & Isaiah's social action project was really inspiring. The boys stepped outside of their comfort zone, through speaking in front of a judge panel at the Social Action finals to delivering the items at Crisis Croydon. As the project was a long-term project, the boys showed fantastic character to continue to complete their project."
Interested in accessing free Kicks football sessions and extra opportunities such as Kicks Mentoring? Find out more: fulhamkicks.com
