The Community Corner column will be in the next programme

This is on sale tomorrow, when we take on Harlow Town in a Bostik League match

In case you missed the last one, which was in the official matchday magazine, when we took on Needham Market almost ten days ago, here is what Football Committee member Mishi Morath had to say:

Good afternoon everyone,

As well as welcoming those who have made the journey down from Needham Market, up in Suffolk, it’s also a pleasure to greet anyone who is making their first visit to Champion Hill, as part of our NON LEAGUE DAY ‘Pay-What-You-Like’ match.

One question I am often asked is that one of ‘what do you do to get such big crowds’? In truth there is no one answer…if only life was that simple! But if I were to try to suggest where our amazing rise through the turnstiles began I’d have to pinpoint the Non League Day fixture, where the Football Club Committee worked heavily hand-in-hand with our Supporters’ Trust Board, and lots of other fans, to promote our first real participation in the day, when we hosted Hampton & Richmond Borough, back on Saturday 6th September 2014, and an amazing 2,856 supporters packed into Champion Hill. That was then a record attendance for the new ground; and our first four-figure home gate of that season. That game was the catalyst for the now regular, but never taken for granted, four figure crowds we now have at most Saturday home matches. Following on from this game we had no fewer than eleven four-figure home crowds, which ended up with us having an average home attendance of over a thousand for league matches for the first time since the Sixties!

Some things we get right, some things we get wrong. Some things we know we are doing right, but outsiders might perceive we are doing wrong…but one thing for sure: our attendance figures do not lie! No matter what happens in the future, and make no mistake I realise I personally I am but a small cog in the voluntary machine that makes Dulwich Hamlet turn on a match day, I am very proud of the part I have played in this great revival in our attendances.

In truth, as I am sure every single volunteer in the Boardroom and from the Supporters’ Trust will testify to, much of what we all do is a thankless task, but deep down we don’t do it for that. I am still amazed at the massive crowds we are currently attracting, and the amount of community work we do. When other clubs sneer at us it’s all water off a ducks back, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m like a little kid at heart, and love the crowds we get. When you stood behind the goal with barely a dozen of you huddled together on a Tuesday night in a sub-one hundred and fifty crowd you will perhaps understand why the novelty of our current crowds will never wear off for me.

Today we are grateful not just to all of you who have come along and donated at the gate and in the buckets, but to Chris Taylor, the General Manager of the ground, who got the people who deal with most things at the Club, namely Meadows Residential, to agree to the ‘Pay-What-You-Like’ once more. Make no mistake…it IS a big gamble, because the match day costs have to covered first…and it’s only once we get into profit on the day that we can donate to our two chosen charities for the day. And we couldn’t have picked two finer ones, in my humble opinion. So please be as generous as you can.
Our two main beneficiaries for the afternoon are our official 2017/18 charity partner 'The Copleston Centre' and the Brixton-based mental health support group charity 'Lambeth & Southwark MIND'.

The Copleston Centre, as well as being locally based just the other side of Dog Kennell Hill, fit our community outreach profile perfectly, as they work with many issues close to our heart, be that local refugee support groups, or homeless organisations.
We have decided to work with MIND not just because mental health problems are one of the last taboos in our national game, but also because next Tuesday 10th October is ]WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY, so we decided to highlight that as well.

Both the 'Copleston Centre' and 'Lambeth & Southwark MIND' will have information tables just inside the ground on Saturday, as part of the day. So feel free to chat to them to make them welcome; or if you feel you want someone to talk to if you need some personal support.

Non League Day is also encouraging clubs up and down the land to support another great cause, Prostate Cancer UK, who are their charity partner this year, and we are backing them in this too, as every penny raised through '50/50' ticket sales on Saturday will be donated to them.

Thank you all once more for your support, both of the team, and for the special fundraising this afternoon, see you all here at Champion Hill again for our next home fixture in a fortnight, on Saturday 21st October, when we shall the Dulwich Branch of the Royal British Legion as our guests, collecting for the 2017 Poppy Appeal, which we are always proud to support. Keep an eye out on our official Club website ( www.dulwichhamletfc.co.uk ) for details that we will share in the next few days about our own annual non-denominational remembrance service at our Dulwich Hamlet War Memorial, which will be in the Boardroom on Friday 10th November, commencing at 7.30pm.

Mishi Morath (Dulwich Hamlet Football Committee, community lead)