Five teenage Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) participants performed a range of Charlton Athletic Women matchday roles at the first ever London Borough of Bexley Partnership game at The Oakwood in Crayford on Sunday 5 February. The match was also Charlton Athletic Women’s dedicated Football v Homophobia fixture.
Molly, Libby, Amy, Sidratu and Rebecca, all from the London Borough of Bexley, spent the day volunteering with a range of matchday duties. These included preparing kit for the squad, moving matchday equipment around, operating turnstiles to facilitate entry for Bexley residents who made the most of a ticket offer, distributing matchday programmes, and supervising the game’s young mascots.
The group were also tasked with choosing the player of the match. They went for goalkeeper Sian Rogers, who made a string of saves to keep a vital clean sheet.
Pre-match, they had met and agreed player of the match criteria with Manager Karen Hills.
The participants, who take part in CACT’s Premier League Kicks and Bexley Targeted programmes, were presented with vouchers by defender Hannah Godfrey on behalf of Bexley Council to thank them for their participation.
Molly Muirhead, 17, said: “It’s crazy to see what happens behind the scenes; all the work and effort that goes into the matches.
“For us to be able to help out and have that little achievement to say we’ve done something and given someone a little bit of help is amazing and for us, as young people to be able to be there in the changing rooms I think is a good opportunity.”
Fourteen-year-old Sidratu Marah said: “I feel like it’s a good experience and it’s a good way for us to find out other jobs [at a football club] other than being a footballer, you can see behind the scenes. I didn’t realise how many jobs there were.”
Kim Dixson, CACT’s Social Inclusion/Kicks Mentoring Manager, said: “At CACT we’re keen to provide as many development opportunities as we can for young people in the areas we deliver. When the London Borough of Bexley and Charlton Athletic Women came together to offer this experience for some of our participants, we jumped at the chance and felt it was a natural fit given our partnership with both organisations.
“It’s great for our young people to see another side to football and how many different careers there are within the sport while also developing key life skills.”
Charlton Athletic Women won the match through a late goal from substitute Alex Hennessy in front of a record season attendance of 556.
To find out more about CACT’s Early Help and Prevention work, visit: cact.org.uk/early-help-and-prevention