West Ham United Homeless Support Day returns
After two years of postponements due to Covid-19, West Ham United opened its London Stadium doors to welcome Your Place residents and other people from around Newham who have experienced homelessness.
West Ham United Foundation’s Homeless Support Day was the third event of its kind to be held at London Stadium and provided services such as clothing, hairdressers, oral health checks, banking support as well as a hot pie and mash lunch.
Since the launch of the Players’ Project in 2018, West Ham United and its Foundation have been working to support local individuals, services and communities in a range of ways – from providing food parcels and essential items, to offering CV advice and organising visits and calls from the Club’s players and ambassadors.
Women’s forward, Claudia Walker and Club Ambassadors, Carlton Cole and Marlon Harewood attended the Homeless Support Day and helped to distribute clothing donated by the men’s, women’s and academy teams.
Carlton Cole, who has his own ties to homelessness through his mother and uncle who were homeless when they first moved to London, spoke of the need to break down the stigma related to homelessness and the positive interactions he had witnessed during the afternoon.
"When people think about homeless people, they think of someone in the street under a bridge but there’s more to it than that. There are people that just have unforeseen circumstances. “I’ve had ups and downs in my life and with the flick of a switch things can go wrong for you. I’ve always had a good support network around me but some people might not have that."
Joseph Lyons, CEO of the Foundation, was also in attendance and spoke of the importance of the Homeless Support Day in helping to bring the work of the Foundation to life.
"Days like today help to open our eyes a little bit. They help us to ask more questions and to have more conversations about how we can continue to make a positive impact on our community."
David, Your Place resident:
"It has been an absolutely brilliant day. Clubs like this actually do care about the homeless and put on events like this. They should do more of them."
