WEST HAM PLAYERS’ PROJECT PUTS SMILES ON THE FACES OF HOMELESS PEOPLE
On Wednesday 18th December, residents of Caritas Anchor House were delighted to be invited to the London Stadium for an event hosted by the West Ham United’s Players’ Project.
People experiencing homelessness in Newham were able to attend the event and access vital services and support in the run up to Christmas.
Fourteen residents from Caritas Anchor House attended and enjoyed sharing food, taking part in the PlayStation fun zone, and accessed haircuts, podiatry services, job support, drug and alcohol advice, and donations of clothing from West Ham United players and staff.
Helping to tackle poverty is a key strand of the Players’ Project, which launched in 2018 and is led by Captain Mark Noble. On the day, Mark was also joined by Fabian Balbuena and Albian Ajeti who enjoyed meeting members of the community during the afternoon’s event. The residents were delighted to receive goody bags including West Ham hats, scarves and jackets and even have them signed by the players.
Club captain Mark Noble said: “Small little gestures like this; coming here, spending time with people and giving some warm clothes out, some scarves, some trainers and some hot food, it means a lot to people. If you’re in a privileged position like I am, or a lot of people are, you don’t realise what this means to other people. As I’ve said, I’m from this area and it means a lot to me to be here today. Hopefully just a little bit of my time and everyone else’s time makes someone’s Christmas. That’s really important.”
Joe Lyons, Chief Executive of the West Ham United Foundation, said, “Homelessness is getting a lot of attention and focus. What West Ham have realised is that Caritas Anchor House is doing amazing work to tackle homelessness in Newham. How we can help them is to hold events like this one, where people can enjoy themselves”.
He also added, “Events like these might be able to spark someone into a course of action and give them a bit of confidence and self-esteem as an individual. They can then use this to support charities in ways such as raising funds. This is where West Ham can play an important part in this and help the organisations out there.”
Written by Daniel Fajuyitan, Events and Marketing Intern
