Community chat...

Here's what Mishi Morath discussed in the programme tonight, regarding the recognition our work has received

This new campaign is certainly one where we have to live up to our reputation! I can only speak for myself personally, but I am sure anyone who like my good self who does their little bit to help our Football Club will agree, whatever we do to promote Dulwich Hamlet in our community does so not for personal gain or glory, but simply for the good of the Club that we love.

Before I let you know where I’m going with this column tonight, let me get one of my ‘bugbears’ off of my chest. That word ‘community’. It’s often slung as a word when somebody doesn’t agree with you…as in ‘You will upset the community’ or ‘the community will turn against you’. But people who do this, usually unrepresentative amenity groups of ‘semi-professional NIMBY types’ forget that Dulwich Hamlet Football Club ARE part of our community right at the heart of our community & have been so ever since we were founded way back in Victorian times in 1893, over one hundred and twenty three years ago.

But that’s not what I want to talk about this evening. As I my column with…we don’t do what we do for personal glory…but after several years building up a community programme at Champion Hill it’s wonderful when recognition is received.

This began at the beginning of last season, when we were honoured to be awarded the ‘Barry East Trophy’ by the Ryman League at their annual presentations last summer, which is presented to the Club that has done most to promote the Isthmian League in a positive way, which acknowledged the work many volunteers had done in particular to promote the anti-homophobia in football message, culminating in the ground-breaking friendly against Stonewall FC. This work in particular, was a great example of the excellent co-operation between our Football Committee and the Supporters’ Trust.
Towards the end of last season Trust Board member Jack Bagnall nominated ‘Dulwich Hamlet Football Club Volunteers’ for the Honorary Liberty of the Old Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell.

This was duly presented quite fittingly to Darren McCreery of the Supporters’ Trust at the Southwark Civic Awards, which were held in the magnificent settings of Southwark Cathedral. The citation in the ‘Order of Proceedings’ brochure noted:

“Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a shining example of Southwark citizens actively working together to achieve exceptional results and this part of London proud. Volunteers have worked closely together to ensure that the club is a welcoming place for all and is making a positive difference in the lives of fellow citizens. The Club focussed its efforts in 2015 on continuing to build bridges between cultures and communities, as evidenced by its work to combat homophobia in sport, events to mark International Women’s Day and Black History Month, and giving free match tickets to local people who had never been to the club before as well as to local community groups and schools. Club volunteers have also raised large amounts of money and supplies for the British Heart Foundation, Cooltan Arts, Southwark Foodbank, migrants in Calais, and refugees in Syria. Dulwich Hamlet Volunteers continue to ensure that this is an inclusive club that reaches out to the local and global community, demonstrating the power of football to do good and to make a real and lasting difference.”

As if that wasn’t justification of all of the work we carry out, despite lazy brickbats sometimes thrown in our direction, regarding politics, students, hipsters and so on; we were further honoured with a prestigious honour at the National Game Awards, in conjunction with the Non League Paper, when Dulwich Hamlet were named the Football Foundation Non League Community Club of the Year, in a awards ceremony held at Stamford Bridge.

I was humbly honoured to accept this on behalf of our Club, and rather than tell you what it meant to be able to do so, I shall leave you with the article as covered in the NLP itself:

TRUE, the NGA decanter may not be a replacement for the glass trophy Dulwich Hamlet really wanted in their hands after the Ryman Premier play-off final, but the award certainly represents more progress.
The south-east Londoners still can’t get make the stride into the National League South despite the best efforts of manager Gavin Rose.
At the turn of the year the title looked theirs for the taking. They fell short against East Thurrock in the final but there was some good news around the corner – their efforts off the pitch had been recognised.
The Community Club of the Year celebrates an association not only with its local area, but as Dulwich have shown for a while now it also signifies an understanding of the bigger issues facing the world.
Take their collection for refugees for example. Not content with getting supporters on board to donate whatever they could to the crisis appeal before delivering truck loads of items to Calais, they went a stage further and set up an aid group called Dulwich-2-Dunkirk.
Later in the season they put on a Syrian Refugee match with Middlesex League FC Assyria which raised nearly £3,000 to send across the border.
A third of what the club brings in from its profitable 50-50 draw goes straight to local charity, and Dulwich help youngsters look after the pennies as well.
‘Pay your age’ season tickets sees teenagers and children stump up a pound to see the side for every year they’ve been alive!
Collecting the honour was Mishi Morath, one of the dedicated behind-the-scenes workhorses who strive to ensure the club are at the top of the community game – and that everyone, no matter your background, is welcomed once through the doors.
“People say we’re left-wing but we’re not,” said the Dulwich die-hard, attending the club’s games for 40 years after first standing on the terraces as a seven year old.
“We just want to make the club the best we can and sometimes that doesn’t involve the football – it’s the bigger picture.
“We’re continuing to make strides off the pitch and the club is now recognised as a forward-moving club. It’s not just all about the football.”
Awareness is sometimes as important as the money. Hosting gay world champions Stonewall in similar circumstances last year, their battle to combat homophobia within football drew much attention – tackling prejudice, their attitude should act as a blueprint for others.
But they have a battle on their hands. Morath says it is crucial the club are relocated next door after the owners submitted a planning application to build houses at Champion Hill.
“If it doesn’t go through I believe it could be the start of a slow death for Dulwich Hamlet,” he said. “There are so many advantages and benefits to the new ground – the last thing we want to do is stagnate and decline.”

It goes without saying, that none of this recognition would have been possible without the contributions of many people, be it Committee members, those on the Trust Board, or simply individuals from all parts of the ground mucking in when they could. My fellow Committee member George Parnavelas will be working alongside me on community issues, so we are setting ourselves some ambitious but achievable targets in the community field over the next twelve months. But we will still need your help.

We are looking to strengthen our voluntary work, both on the community & commercial side of things, and this is what we will talk about in my next column on Saturday, as well as on the official Club website. So keep an eye out for ways that you can help our Football Club prosper off the pitch, to complement the work Gavin Rose is doing on it!

Mishi Morath (Football Committee, community initiatives)