Funding for football sessions will provide a sense of community and increased confidence

At Action Homeless we have been facilitating informal football sessions for clients from across our services with the support of members of our staff teams for the several years now, and have seen the benefits of exercise and a sense of community leading to  increased confidence and improved wellbeing of people who take part.  Now, thanks to funding from Sports England and The National Lottery, we are able to solidify and expand these sessions into the future.

£7,125 in funding over a period of a year will allow us to purchase the right kit and equipment, book a dedicated place to practice and give us the means to provide refreshments and transport when needed.

We are planning  to make the Action Homeless football team a key part of the health and wellbeing opportunities we offer to our clients. Our clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but they have all experienced the disruption and upset of not having a safe and secure place to call home, and have often been isolated from family and friends or are far from home and a familiar culture. We have found that despite a difference in backgrounds, football is a sport that is unifying and familiar.

Clients who are part of the team will have the opportunity to develop skills and feel a sense of achievement by working together as a team and participating in local community tournaments and events, and we hope that these aspects will serve our clients in a positive way into the future.

With this funding, key members of our staff team will be working together to ensure that the football team is a consistent part of the activities and opportunities for wellbeing and connection that we offer to our clients. These activities sit alongside the dedicated and personalised support and housing that we provide, and work to break the cycle of homelessness.

Over time we have built up clear evidence that there is significant interest from clients across our services in being part of an Action Homeless team. We currently have roughly 8 clients practising in our local park weekly as part of an informal session organised by staff, and we have also been part of local community football seasons with friendly matches and tournaments run by other charitable organisations in the community. A match in 2024 saw our team win the ‘Positive Participator’ award for the tournament, which was based on fair play.

We are now at a point where enthusiasm among our clients for being part of an Action Homeless football team is the highest it has been. Our team is unique in that it is put together and organised by dedicated staff from within Action Homeless, who are familiar to our clients and who have built up trust with them over a period of time. This funding will allow us to build on the momentum and enthusiasm we have already, and allow even more people to get involved.