If you missed Saturday's programme, her is what Community Lead Rob Hyneman had to say.

Hello and welcome!

We’ve got a lot going on today at Champion Hill and I’m going to start by welcoming our school guests. Today we are delighted to host the children, families and staff from Bessemer Grange Primary School and St Joseph’s Camberwell Primary School. They are here to enjoy the Champion Hill experience as part of our free tickets for schools and youth groups scheme. A warm welcome to all and we hope you enjoy the game.

As well as being here to enjoy the game, some of the pupils from these schools are here to celebrate a fantastic achievement. You may remember a few months back that we ran an under 11’s football competition in partnership with Cobourg Primary School. The two winners of the inaugural Cobourg Cup were Bessemer Grange Boys and St Joseph’s Camberwell Girls. Both teams went on to represent Dulwich Hamlet in the regional finals of the National League Trust Cup. The regional finals took place at Sutton United FC last month. Both teams, kitted out in the pink and blue of The Hamlet, did the club proud and were fantastic ambassadors for their schools and our community.

The girls’ team, from St Joseph’s Camberwell, battled proudly but went out in the group stages. The boys’ team, from Bessemer Grange, demolished every team they came across and ran out as worthy winners! Their run to lifting the cup included a dominant 4-0 win over Welling Utd in the semi-finals before a 3-0 win against Bromley in the final. They now go forward to play in the Southern Finals, held at Eastliegh FC, next week. The winners of this competition will then play in the National Final at Wembley in May. I’m sure you will want to join me in saying massive congratulations to both teams and wishing Bessemer Grange all the best for the competition this week!

Today is our kit amnesty match. In the run up and during the game, we will be collecting any unwanted old sportswear, sports equipment and old school wear / uniforms.

The clothing and equipment will be donated to Wear A Sports Shirt Day, which will distribute it to charities working in the UK and throughout the world to get underprivileged young people involved in sport. This has been organised in partnership with Cornishman Julian Chenery, now resident in London, who runs the “Wear A Sports Shirt Day” charity project and travels to non-league games regularly collecting donations.

Also attending today are Osman Sesay (London School of Science & Technology, Sierra Leone); Elizabeth Anyu (Immaculate Heart of Mary Senior Secondary School, Uganda) and Alex Tugume (Talents Academy, Uganda) who will accept the donations on behalf of the organisations they represent. We’d also like to thank our opponents today, Truro City, who have backed this initiative and been collecting donations for the game today. If you have any donations which you were unable to bring to the game today, please email us the address below so we can organise an alternative.

Finally, this Thursday (21st March) is the Redthread Charity Quiz. This is being held in the DHFC Bar from 7pm. For more information and to sign up, please visit the club website.

Thank you for your continued support – I hope you enjoy the game today!

Rob Hyneman
DHFC Community Lead
@DHFC_Community
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