Here is what our Community Lead, Rob Hyneman, had to say at our final home game against Woking.

Hello and welcome to today’s game!

It seems crazy that we are already at the end of our first season in the National South and the visit of Woking today is our final home game. It will be strange not experiencing first-hand the ups and downs of the end of season playoffs. Having said that, it would take a lot to beat the drama and euphoria of last May!

This season has seen so many wonderful community events, including:

• The return of our Christmas card competition which saw two local primary school children design the official DHFC cards which were sold to raise funds for charity.
• The inaugural Cobourg Cup – our under 11’s football competition for boys and girls from local primary schools. The winners represented Dulwich Hamlet in The National League Trust’s competition.
• The relaunch of our free tickets for school groups and youth organisations scheme. Since our return to Champion Hill, we have handed out nearly 1000 free tickets.
• The launch of our player mascot scheme. Since our return to Champion Hill, every match day has seen youngsters from the local community ensure that the players make it onto the pitch safely.
• The half time walking football showcase which included a performance by the Silverfit Cheerleaders.
• Fundraising for a range of local charities – The Mayor of Southwark’s Common Good Trust, Southwark Young Pilgrims and Pancreatic Cancer UK.
• The launch of Amnesty International’s Football Welcomes weekend at our home game against Hungerford including our bike collection for The Bike Project.

We have also run a range of fundraising initiatives in support of our official charity partner – Redthread. These have included our Charity partner match day, the special Redthread kit auction and the Redthread quiz night in the DHFC bar. Our fundraising activities in aid of Redhtread has seen us raise thousands of pounds to support the fantastic work of this local charity. We will be presenting Redthread with a cheque, on the pitch at half timer, with the total amount we have raised. Thank you again for your generosity and support with all our fundraising events. Our partnership with Redthread this season is the start of what we hope will be an ongoing relationship. Our work this year has hopefully started the conversation and got people thinking about the issues of youth violence in our local area and South London. It’s not an issue that is going to go away overnight. It is going to require support, education and commitment over time to address. We are committed to continuing to raise awareness of youth violence issues and working with local charities and youth organisations to ensure that the current epidemic is addressed.

We’re already planning for next season and what has become clear is that, if we are to continue to foster strong links with our local community, we need to expand our community team. If you are interested in getting involved or have a particular community interest you’d like to develop, please get in touch via the email address below. There is no set time commitment that you need to make just a willingness to get involved every now and then. If you would like to find out more, please get in touch! Equally, we are always on the lookout for new and exciting ideas. If you have any ideas about schemes or local organisations we could support and promote next season, please let us know!

On a personal note, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has supported the community schemes this year. I’m incredibly proud of everything we have achieved and how we have strengthened our links within the local community. None of this would have been possible without the support of every club official, player and fan. I was asked the other day the reason why our club was so successful in the community. The answer is simple – it’s our community. We could run every scheme in the world but they are only successful because of the fantastic support you – thank you!

I hope you enjoy the game today and the remainder of the season. I’m already looking forward to seeing you all back her at Champion Hill at some point in August!

Rob Hyneman
DHFC Community Lead
@DHFC_Community
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