Lots of news from yesterday

Here's the latest Community update, from yesterday's official matchday programme, if you missed out on one

Good afternoon,
Today we have the pleasure of welcoming ‘strangers’ to Champion Hill & that’s the beauty of cup football. It’s the First Round Proper of the Buildbase FA Trophy and on paper we’ve been lucky to avoid the National League sides. However, our Step Four opponents disposed of one such club on Tuesday night, when they knocked out Hampton & Richmond Borough in the final qualifying round.
So it looks to be an exciting game, and from a purely ‘selfish’ point, I’m more than happy that we came out of the hat at home. Firstly, because-in my ‘closet groundhopper’ hat- I’ve already ticked their ground & secondly it means I can try to sell more ‘50/50’ tickets. These are not just a great fundraiser for the Club but we often hand over the proceeds to charity, and that brings me to the enticing Ryman League home fixture with Tonbridge Angels next Saturday.
For this match we are working alongside our 2016/17 charity partners once more, and this is where we need your help. From half time onwards their volunteers will be shaking their buckets to help us fund the work they do, but more importantly we’d love as many of you as possible to sign up with any of the FBB folk who you will see with their clipboards around the ground as SUPPORTERS of FBB! On top of this we shall be donating the proceeds from the ‘50/50’ sales against the Angels to their funds.
Signing up as an FBB supporter is a simple concept, all you do is sign up for a sum as small as £10 per month which is cheaper than a pint of beer a week! They receive the money amount direct from your bank account, so there’s no hassle involved for you at all. Every single penny raised goes to help fund their work, and in case you’re not quite sure, here’s just a little about what your help supports:
Football Beyond Borders award their youngsters remarkable reward visits and football tours, which are vital to the transformational impact of their FBB Schools programme. Participants who meet their targets for behaviour, school attendance and academic achievement are provided with six remarkable reward visits and an end of year football tour. Last school year their students went on tours to Barcelona, Germany and Scotland and reward visits to Wembley Stadium, the Emirates Stadium, Sky Sports Studios, and met their footballing heroes like Santi Cazorla, Yaya Toure and Yannick Bolasie. FBB want all students at their new FBB Schools to enjoy these rewards as well. You can make this possible. It costs them £1800 per school to provide 6 remarkable reward visits and the annual tour. They do not charge schools for this. Instead, they recruit 10 monthly supporters for each of their partner schools. In September 2016, they grew to an additional 7 schools programmes, so really do need your support. By joining the FBB Family next Saturday, you will become a vital part of the work they do to support young people to achieve their goals and make their voices heard.
So if you’re approached personally, simply go to anyone with an FBB clipboard to sign up & join the band of Dulwich Hamlet fans who have already done so.
Next Saturday the Dulwich Hamlet Committee, with the kind permission of our General Manager Chris Taylor, have given permission for Supporters’ Trust Board member Dave ‘Fingers’ Rogers to appeal for you to bring along unwanted pushbikes, through his ‘Dulwich2Dunkirk’ hat. They will be passing them on to a charity called ‘The Bike Project’. Their work is such a simple concept, but also extremely important and vital. In a nutshell their ‘catchphrase’ is: “We take second-hand bikes, fix them up and donate them to refugees.” So please, if you have an unused bicycle sitting at home in the basement, or the garden shed, bring it along next week for the Supporters’ Trust supported ‘Dulwich2Dunkirk’ backed ‘Bike Project’ initiative, all with the blessing of Dulwich Hamlet Football Club.
To finish, some of you may not have heard of an excellent monthly magazine called ‘The Non League’. The current issue has an interview with our very own Danny Carr in it and even, if it didn’t, it would still be well worth the £3 cover price. It’s on sale from the “12th Man” Stand at home matches, and you will even be able to pick up a back issue or two from them at a reduced price. For, once you’ve seen one copy, you’ll want the rest!
If it’s not a draw today we’re back here on Tuesday, for the Alan Turvey Trophy tie with Faversham Town. It’s HALF PRICE admission, so why not treat a friend & ease them into the Champion Hill family?

Mishi Morath (Dulwich Hamlet Football Committee, lead for community initiatives)