In case you missed the programmes...

It's been a while since I've shared the 'Commercial & Community' columns on here, for those who were not a the games, or do not but programmes

So here is the round-up from the last three of them, oldest first.

This one was printed in the Canvey Island programme, from way back on Saturday 7th February:

Another Saturday…another home game!

This afternoon we welcome everyone from Canvey Island. Nothing wrong with the place, it gets a very ‘unfair press’, after all not everywhere can be a ‘picturesque’ as, erm, Southend! ;-) I once made the mistake of deciding to walk to Canvey from Benfleet station, on the way to a midweek pre-season game a few seasons ago. Nothing wrong with the stroll, but ‘bland’ didn’t do it justice. It was relieve to arrive on the Island itself! And, of course, once you get to the football ground itself, the welcome is warm, and the Lego model of the stadium makes it worth the trip alone.

Sponsorship-wise it’s a bit ‘strange’, as we unusually don’t have a match ball sponsor, but we are pleased to welcome not one, but two official Match Sponsors. We would like to thank PAUL EACOTT for being one of our two guest parties in the boardroom today; and we would also like to welcome the family of the late BEVAN EMERSON, who was a loyal Hamlet fan who died far too young, and are sponsoring in his memory.

Going back to last week’s match against Grays Athletic, and I am sure most of you will be aware that we held a special collection, a first for us, supporting the local Foodbank providers in the London Borough of Southwark. To be honest, we were not sure what the response would be, but to say everyone was ‘gobsmacked’ at our supporters’ generosity is an understatement! To must say I have no idea how the stuff collected equates to ‘real needs’. But this was explained in an extremely kind Thank You letter I received from Felicia Boshorin,, the Southwark Foodbank Project Manager. She said: “I am writing on behalf of the entire Southwark Foodbank team to thank you for your support in allowing us to carry out a Food Collection at the Dulwich Hamlet Stadium. The total cash raised was £142.07 with 393.68 kilos of food donated from the supporters. Staff and volunteers were blown away by the support shown by fans and supporters because the total
food donated will feed at least 30 families.”

A good number of fans have requested that we continue to have community initiatives with the Southwark Foodbank in future, and it is certainly something we will now do on a more regular basis as a Football Club that cares.

Next week just a reminder for a prestige & unique friendly match to highlight the anti-homophobia in football message, when we are fielding a team here, at Champion Hill, on Wednesday night, the 11th, against Stonewall FC, from the Middlesex County League, who are the current Gay Football World Champions! This match has really caught the imagination of the non-league footballing world, so much so that it made the editorial comment in last Sunday’s ‘Non League Paper’. This is what they had to say:

Hats off Hamlet for gay game!
On the subject of inclusion, hats off to Dulwich Hamlet for arranging an eye-opening friendly with gay football world champions Stonewall FC. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, February 11 at Champion Hill, 7.30pm kick off, with all proceeds from the £3 and £1 entry fee going to Stonewall's chosen charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Hamlet's anti-homophobia efforts are to be applauded, and let's hope some of the Stonewall lads catch the eye and earn a chance in the Ryman League or higher.

And on that note…it only leaves me to say: We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible here on Wednesday night!

The next article was included in the issue against Metropolitan Police:

Good afternoon, today we host everyone from the Metropolitan Police Football Club for what will be no doubt be a tough Ryman League Premier Division fixture.
We are also pleased to host our official Match Sponsors this afternoon, who call themselves ‘PETERBOROUGH DULWICH SUPPORTERS’. I have to confess I have no idea who they are, but I hope they enjoy themselves, and witness some Erhun Oztumer-esque performances from some of our lads this today. We are also pleased to have an official Matchball Sponsor, and this has been done in the name of ‘MR. LAURIE DEIMEL, PROUD TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY’ Autism is something, that I would suggest, touches a number of Dulwich Hamlet fans personally. If you want to find out more, and support this worthy charity, then why not have a look at their website: www.autism.org.uk
Whilst on the subject of charity, whilst Dulwich Hamlet Football Club are obviously not a charity, we are clearly aware of our responsibility as a leading light in our local community, which is why we reach out and try to help others, as well as spreading an important message about what we are trying to achieve, and what is acceptable at football. Which is exactly why we hosted our recent friendly with Stonewall FC. It would have been difficult to miss this, as the media interest was immense, as we helped to spread the anti-homophobia message in football. The match itself certainly did that...with the added ‘bonus’ of raising almost two thousand pounds for the chosen charity of our visitors, which was the Elton John AIDS Foundation. So a big thank you from all at Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, to everyone who helped promote the match, and mucked in on the day, it really was appreciated.
On a ‘minor’ note, I must mention, so there is no confusion, there seems to be a bit of ‘mis-labelling’ of myself, Mishi Morath, in various internet articles, that captions myself as speaking for the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters Trust, when in fact I am simply an individual member of that independent organisation. I sit on the Dulwich Hamlet Football Club Management Committee, and it was that Committee who sanctioned and organised that match; whilst happy to work alongside any help the Supporters Trust can offer. In particular, we have been grateful to some of the work that one of their Board Members, Duncan Hart, has done on their behalf.
Moving on, some of you will be aware that plans are in hand for a visit of our German friends from Hamburg, Altona 93, this coming pre-season, when we host them in a game, kick off at SIX O’CLOCK, at Champion Hill, on Saturday 11th July. Their fans are fiercely fundraising to bring their players over for the match, as these sort of special games are clearly something that would not fit into their, or our, ordinary budgets. ‘Charity begins at home’, if you like. We aim to return there in 2018, which promises to be a very special occasion, as it coincides with the 125th anniversary of both Clubs.
To this end, an independent ‘committee’ has been set up, co-ordinated by myself, with input from both Football Committee members, & others from the Supporters Trust Board. But not exclusively run ourselves. The aim is to have a three day two match tour to Hamburg, plus a Supporters Team match, as part of our pre-season preparations in the summer of 2018. We aim to raise the full costs of taking our squad over there (the Supporters Team NOT included!) and will be officially launching our fundraising campaign to take the Hamlet to Hamburg in 2018 under the banner of “INTER CITY 125” on Wednesday 4th March, when we will be holding our first event, which will be a QUIZ NIGHT in the Champion Hill Clubhouse, starting at around 7.30pm. It’s going to be great fun, and we’ll be charging £20 a team, with up to SIX players in a side. It’s all fun, it won’t be too difficult, so everyone can enjoy the night...and we’ll be holding a fundraising raffle too.
So please put that date in your diaries, you don’t have to be Hamlet fans to take part, you can rope in family, friends, and work colleagues...so see you all there!

Whilst the most recent was from almost a fortnight ago, when we hosted VCD Athletic:

Good afternoon,
Today we welcome to Champion Hill VCD Athletic,who hail from from Crayford. My first visit there, many moons ago, was when their Old Road base was nothing more than a roped off pitch, when they were a Kent County League outfit. They are one of those clubs who, quite unfairly in my opinion, are not always taken seriously by opposition fans, simply for the ‘sin’ of not have the biggest of crowds. But you won’t ever hear me bemoaning any club for a perceived lack of support. We, ourselves, are currently extremely fortunately to have great back from the terraces & in the stand, not so much ‘quality over quantity’ but both! For clubs like VCD I’m sure they would love more fans to get their turnstiles clicking, but having a lesser fanbase doesn’t make them a lesser club than us. I, for one, doff my ca (well, I would if I wore one!) to all involved at Old Road. Unsung heroes who keep their clubs running & within their means. I have nothing wrong with ‘Sugar Daddies’ per se, as long as teams with stronger financial backing have benefactors for the right reasons. By that I mean football folk who are fortunate enough to have money to put into their club to help them move onwards & upwards, on & off the pitch. By that I mean not an opportunist who purports to be a ‘saviour’ but all the money pumped in isn’t actually to help the club, but an ‘investment’ or a ‘loan’, which then inevitably is ‘claimed back’ when the said benefactors get bored, or want their money back. They are exactly the type of ‘football’ people who are the scourge of our game. And we should know for, without mentioning names, I am sure you can suggest one or two such types who have been part of our Club in the past.
So, as I say, ‘hats off’ to all at VCD, and especially maybe not a ‘sugar daddy’ of theirs, but an ‘all round nice daddy’. A particular welcome to Mr. Norris, who was a regular at Champion Hill in the Eighties, when his son Matt played in our Pink & Blue. Indeed, I was his kit sponsor one season when he graced our hallowed turf!

Oh dear, that’s a fair bit of rambling from me before I’ve even started my column…now onto other matters!

Today is International Women’s Day, and one thing we are particularly proud of at Champion Hill is the fact that we have a decent proportion of women in the make-up of crowds. It clearly shows that coming to Dulwich Hamlet is a friendly, welcoming, safe place for all…songs from the terrace are always backing the team, without stupid sexist, or homophobic slants you might get at many a professional ground. Which is why we contacted some women’s football teams across London, and the leagues they play in, to offer their players the opportunity to come to Champion Hill this afternoon, in recognition of the important role Womens Football plays in our great national sport.

You may not realise though, that looking after women who support our Club isn’t just a ‘modern’ thing. Over a hundred years ago, way back in 1906, a new stand was built, at one of our previous Champion Hill grounds, to hold 250 spectators. And it was reported that: “It should attract the wives and lady loves in greater numbers than ever;” in one of the local papers!

This afternoon the Football Club will be donating the money raised from today’s 50/50 Draw tickets to the charity, Solace Women’s Aid. They are a London-based charity that supports women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence & they help more than 9,500 survivors of violence each year. It is a charity that is being supported by Claudia Jukes, who is the Head of Sponsorship & Charity Liaisons for Dulwich Hamlet Football Club. She will also be organizing a bucket collection around the ground during the second half, and by the main exit gates at the final whistle, so please spare whatever loose change that you may have. On top of this Claudia is also running in the Palace ½ Marathon, at Hampton Court on Sunday 29th March, in aid of Solace. That’s over thirteen exhausting miles. So please support her in her backing of Solace Women’s Aid today.

To finish, among the crowd for the game we are pleased to welcome two groups of local guests, as part of community outreach programme. The first are a ground of residents, staff & friends from the Love Walk Residental Home, in Camberwell. And the second group are young footballers from the Under 14 & Under 15 teams who are members of Athenlay Football Club, who are based just past the far side of Peckham Rye Park.

We hope everyone enjoys the match, & that you all cheer on the team, hopefully back to winning ways!

Thank you for taking the time to read through all those, apologies for the lateness in sharing them, I hold my hands up...all my own fault-Mishi Morath.