ITS 'PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE' DAY THIS SATURDAY AS DULWICH HAMLET ENTERTAIN WORTHING

Dulwich Hamlet’s Annual PWYL Day will be raising funds for the Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground & Football Beyond Borders

With the full backing of the club’s owners, Dulwich Hamlet will be once more opening the gates of Champion Hill to all whether you want to spend just a penny or a pony. Thousands of pounds have been raised in previous seasons for charities as diverse as The Robes Project, Homes4Heroes, The British Heart Foundation and CoolTan Arts thanks to the bigheartedness of fans old and new, home, away and neutral. Dulwich Hamlet aim to continue that marvellous munificence when the Rebels grace the fields of Champion Hill this Saturday 18th November, kick-off 3.00 pm.

As in the two previous seasons, once all usual match day costs have been covered, every penny of the surplus money raised through donations at the turnstiles & through bucket collections will donated to this year’s good causes. As in past seasons this will be split between two charitable organisations, the first being our official Dulwich Hamlet Football Club charity partner for 2016/17 - namely Football Beyond Borders. Football Beyond Borders uses the power of football as an educational tool to inspire young people to achieve their goals and make their voices heard.

For the other beneficiary, we have chosen our next-door neighbours from further up the Hill, the Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground. DKHAP has been established since the early 1970's and is a free open access adventure playground for children and young people between the ages of 5 and 16. For over 4 decades DKHAP has given children and young people the opportunity to play freely and take risk in a safe and stimulating environment with qualified staff on hand to supervise. Like many such spaces DKHAP is threatened by local government spending cuts and fundraising is vital to their survival. Currently DKHAP is planning to build a new and exciting, fully accessible building. They have the design. They have the vision. Help DKHAP plan the adventure by visiting their page on Spacehive to find out more and make a donation.

Football Club Chairman Liam Hickey enthused: “This is the third annual pay-what-you-like match, instigated in 2014 and was such a success, that it has been held each season since.

“The local community support us all year through the turnstiles, this is our little way of paying them back in kind.

"This is one of the highlights of our season, when we raise money for brilliant local causes, and the whole community, not just our regulars, respond in kind."

“In the olden days our club founder “Pa” Wilson made it a cornerstone of the club to support local causes and we are merely continuing that tradition.”

Committee Community lead Mishi Morath added: "It's a shame that 'Non-League Day' earlier this season fell on an FA Cup weekend, so we couldn't participate, but with this date being designated the first ever Ryman League Community Day it was a perfect match for our work.

“The beauty of a game like this is that it helps local causes dear to us and it always gives locals the opportunity to support The Hamlet while supporting local charities at the same time.”

George Parnavelas, also part of the Club Committee Community team, concluded: "It promises to be a great day, and the beauty is it doesn't matter if you donate over the odds, or just a penny. It's attractive to all, rich or poor and it will hopefully encourage a few more Worthing fans to travel up on the day too.

“As a club we’re proud that all under thirteens get in free at our matches anyway, but this is a great opportunity for primary school kids to bring their older brothers and sisters, as well as their mums and dads to a game too, just for a donation to two local charities.”

So, rustle up a few friends, family or workmates who might not usually pop in at Champion Hill, do your bit to help local charities and enjoy some fine football too. Everybody’s welcome!