Hampton & Richmond Football Club (‘The Beavers’) adopt African Revival

Hampton & Richmond Football Club and the Hampton Hill based  charity African Revival have teamed up in a novel partnership. Gáinne Ronaghan of African Revival said “we are very excited to announce that Hampton & Richmond FC have formally adopted us as their official charity. http://www.hamptonfc.net We are all absolutely delighted to have formed this relationship with the club. It will help bring about real change for the children in the rural African communities where we work.”

“Football, being an international language, breaks through religious and socio- economic barriers, and brings communities together to promote health, education, teamwork and life skills. Our aim is to improve the lives of the children that we help further through sport. By forming links with HRFC we can do this together”, said Gráinne.

As well as donating a percentage of gate money the club has also donated old equipment, including football boots and kits. The money raised from their pre-season friendly with West Ham on Thursday 17 July will go towards the £50,000 needed to set up a schools’ football league in Northern Uganda for the 72 schools we have linked with schools in the Surrey area. Northern Uganda is emerging from one of the world’s worst and neglected humanitarian crises, where children were the victims and the weapons used in a violent conflict. It is our belief that we can contribute towards peace building through the promotion of sport.

The club have also changed their kit to promote African Revival for the new season. Whilst they probably could have obtained a lucrative sponsorship deal, they generously chose the charity instead.

Gráinne added “this is a really exciting development for African Revival and will raise our profile in areas untapped until now and will encourage local and national awareness.”

‘BEAVERS’ ANNOUNCE SPONSORSHIP DEALS – TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Hampton & Richmond Borough FC have announced a change in Shirt Sponsors for the forthcoming season. M M Cox Properties Limited have been Hampton`s shirt sponsors for over five seasons and have not been dropped, instead they will be Ground Sponsors so continuing the Beavers association with this respected local company.

The new Shirt Sponsors will come as a surprise to many people as it is the Hampton Hill based charity, African Revival. The Beavers are also foregoing any money for the sponsorship of their shirts.

Hampton & Richmond Borough’s Chairman Steve McPherson explained the reasoning behind this ground breaking decision,

“ Hampton & Richmond are proud to support `African Revival` and the great work that they do in Uganda and also in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan & Zambia. We feel that by allowing their name to be seen on our shirts it will give African Revival greater reach and allow them access to a wider audience and to the media. The Directors of the club felt that it was worth turning aside a potential five figure sum from any commercial companies as this shirt sponsorship is worth more to the charity and to ourselves than any financial consideration”.

Mr McPherson went on to say “we are determined that this football club will become an integral part of the community, not just locally but in wider aspects as well. This link up with a local charity, with world wide connections, together with our new and existing community projects is but one further step on the way for us to becoming a driving force for sport and community focus in the Borough of Richmond”.

 

The new shirts will be available shortly.

Hampton & Richmond Borough  FC v West Ham Thursday 17^th July, 7.30pm

West Ham have confirmed to the club that will be sending their full first team squad.

Already 1,200 tickets have been committed and with a crowd limit of 3,000 set for the game on Thursday 17^th July, it looks very likely that the Beavers will break their ground record of 2,500 with something to spare.

The Beavers Press Officer is urging spectators to get in quick and buy their tickets, “the way sales are going we may very sell out well before the game. We are not intending to have any cash admissions on the day so if you don’t buy a ticket in advance you won’t get in”. Tickets (£15, Adults, £7.50 concessions) are available from the club during the week between 11am and 3pm, or by phoning 020-8979-2456, also from the Jolly Coopers, High Street, Hampton or Plush Folly in Milton Road.

Football boots to Africa

As part of the growing links with African Revival Hampton & Richmond Supporters are being encouraged to send their old football boots to Hampton & Richmond Borough and it’s not because the club are short of boots for their players! The used boots are being sent to Uganda to help schoolchildren to take part in football. Hampton School have also joined the scheme and recently handed over more than 130 pairs of boots.