West Ham United Foundation has teamed up with Friends of the Elderly and Barclays Digital Eagles to deliver a pilot programme designed to prevent loneliness and isolation
Walking football came to the Training Ground this week and with it a distinguished group of senior Hammers, many of whom have been watching their beloved West Ham United for half a century or more.
West Ham United Foundation has teamed up with Friends of the Elderly and Barclays Digital Eagles to deliver a pilot programme designed to prevent loneliness and isolation among the community’s senior citizens.
Sporting Stories uses the rich memories and history of football as a means of establishing common ground and sparking interaction between participants. The Digital Eagles, meanwhile, are giving the group a whistle-stop tour of social media and teaching them how best to keep in touch with one another online.
The five-week programme may be in its infancy, but it could hardly have wished for a better start. Joint-Chairman David Gold was the star turn at the programme’s Boleyn Ground launch, prior to Tuesday’s visit to the Club’s Chadwell Heath Training Ground.
There, Winston Reid and Stewart Downing helped the veteran Hammers get to grips with the brand new whufc.com, before manager Sam Allardyce led an all-star walking football session. Carl Jenkinson, Cheikhou Kouyate, Alex Song and Diego Poyet all got stuck in, as the old boys and girls showed that they can certainly still kick it!
West Ham United Foundation has teamed up with Friends of the Elderly and Barclays Digital Eagles to deliver a pilot programme designed to prevent loneliness and isolation among the community’s senior citizens.
Sporting Stories uses the rich memories and history of football as a means of establishing common ground and sparking interaction between participants. The Digital Eagles, meanwhile, are giving the group a whistle-stop tour of social media and teaching them how best to keep in touch with one another online.
The five-week programme may be in its infancy, but it could hardly have wished for a better start. Joint-Chairman David Gold was the star turn at the programme’s Boleyn Ground launch, prior to Tuesday’s visit to the Club’s Chadwell Heath Training Ground.
There, Winston Reid and Stewart Downing helped the veteran Hammers get to grips with the brand new whufc.com, before manager Sam Allardyce led an all-star walking football session. Carl Jenkinson, Cheikhou Kouyate, Alex Song and Diego Poyet all got stuck in, as the old boys and girls showed that they can certainly still kick it!
Friends of the Elderly Director of Fundraising Jo O'Boyle explained that they had approached a number of clubs with the proposal and it was the West Ham United Foundation who had jumped at the opportunity.
Within a matter of the weeks the programme was up and running and such has been its popularity that there is now a waiting list for the next one.
“It's been fantastic to do this with West Ham, because it is such a community Club,” she confirmed. “We've had an overwhelming response from the people that wanted to join the programme.
“Every week, they say this has been the best day of my life. We did a behind-the-scenes tour, they sat in the dugout, they've been to the Training Ground and met the players, which is something that is above and beyond what they imagined what the programme would be about.
“These are people who have been fans of the Club for half a century and have never had this kind of experience. It's giving them something to talk about after they go away from the weekly session. It's giving them a reason to connect with other people around them and having a reason to share.”
The programme’s future is not altogether clear at this stage but with the Foundation’s backing Jo is hopeful that this is merely the start.
She continued: “We do have a waiting list for people who want to come back. We're hoping that we can get funding, so that we can actually deliver something on a regular basis. The Foundation is really supportive and they really want to help us do that for the older community.”
Within a matter of the weeks the programme was up and running and such has been its popularity that there is now a waiting list for the next one.
“It's been fantastic to do this with West Ham, because it is such a community Club,” she confirmed. “We've had an overwhelming response from the people that wanted to join the programme.
“Every week, they say this has been the best day of my life. We did a behind-the-scenes tour, they sat in the dugout, they've been to the Training Ground and met the players, which is something that is above and beyond what they imagined what the programme would be about.
“These are people who have been fans of the Club for half a century and have never had this kind of experience. It's giving them something to talk about after they go away from the weekly session. It's giving them a reason to connect with other people around them and having a reason to share.”
The programme’s future is not altogether clear at this stage but with the Foundation’s backing Jo is hopeful that this is merely the start.
She continued: “We do have a waiting list for people who want to come back. We're hoping that we can get funding, so that we can actually deliver something on a regular basis. The Foundation is really supportive and they really want to help us do that for the older community.”
The West Ham United Foundation has made such a difference to the programme and the way that they've embraced its ambition and brought it to life has been sensational.
For the participants, Tuesday’s trip to the Training Ground had been many years in the making, but well worth the wait, it seems.
“It's been wonderful,” Peter Wiggins said. “A month ago if anyone told me this was going to happen to me I would never have believed them. The people that I've met, these two gentlemen and the players as well, I can't take it in at the moment, but it is true. It's very good.”
And he wasn’t the only one pinching himself. Sporting an old West Ham shirt, not retro mind, Michael had earlier waltzed into reception and bumped into skipper Kevin Nolan no less.
“It's a dream come true, after 55 years of following West Ham, it's never got any better. It can't get any better. It's the best day of my life as far as I'm concerned with football and West Ham. I was 16 when I went to my first match and I'm overwhelmed with the last few weeks that we've had.”
There was a chorus of approval from the Digital Eagles too, who said the combination of football and social media was working a treat. They even got Big Sam in on the act, using a selfie stick, no less.
Digital Eagle Tammy Hyndman said: “It's been absolutely amazing, we've been working with West Ham United Foundation for a few weeks now and it's just been the best experience. They've made such a difference to the programme and the way that they've embraced its ambition and brought it to life has been sensational.
“We're really appreciative of the Foundation staff for all that they've done to support us and Sporting Stories. We've been working on it for a few months behind the scenes, getting it all set up. But it was when West Ham became involved with us that it took it to the next level.
“The idea was to use football as a trigger to get people interested in technology and it's just worked fantastically well. It's been brilliant. The group we've been working with have formed such a tight-knit group and they're all in touch on Facebook.”
Music: Tafi Maradi by Kevin MacCloud
“It's been wonderful,” Peter Wiggins said. “A month ago if anyone told me this was going to happen to me I would never have believed them. The people that I've met, these two gentlemen and the players as well, I can't take it in at the moment, but it is true. It's very good.”
And he wasn’t the only one pinching himself. Sporting an old West Ham shirt, not retro mind, Michael had earlier waltzed into reception and bumped into skipper Kevin Nolan no less.
“It's a dream come true, after 55 years of following West Ham, it's never got any better. It can't get any better. It's the best day of my life as far as I'm concerned with football and West Ham. I was 16 when I went to my first match and I'm overwhelmed with the last few weeks that we've had.”
There was a chorus of approval from the Digital Eagles too, who said the combination of football and social media was working a treat. They even got Big Sam in on the act, using a selfie stick, no less.
Digital Eagle Tammy Hyndman said: “It's been absolutely amazing, we've been working with West Ham United Foundation for a few weeks now and it's just been the best experience. They've made such a difference to the programme and the way that they've embraced its ambition and brought it to life has been sensational.
“We're really appreciative of the Foundation staff for all that they've done to support us and Sporting Stories. We've been working on it for a few months behind the scenes, getting it all set up. But it was when West Ham became involved with us that it took it to the next level.
“The idea was to use football as a trigger to get people interested in technology and it's just worked fantastically well. It's been brilliant. The group we've been working with have formed such a tight-knit group and they're all in touch on Facebook.”
Music: Tafi Maradi by Kevin MacCloud