Gor Feel Power Of 'Everton In The Community' Project

LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom- Everton Football Club has a strong sense of giving back to the community that has supported them through thick and thin for the record 114 years they have played at the summit of the English game.

It's flagship ‘Everton in the Community’ programme is the vehicle the Blues to impact on the people of the city of Liverpool where the club proudly calls home.

On Monday, selected players of Gor Mahia FC, whose storied history in East Africa makes them worthy guests were given rare insight on the importance of the initiative on the eve of their landmark game against Everton at their hallowed Goodison Park that has been part of Liverpool’s landscape for over 126 years.

First, K’Ogalo were given a feel of the spotless Goodison turf where they will show the watching world their talent from 7pm local time (10pm EAT) when the match kicks off.

Stroking the ball at the arena where famous teams and players have kicked a football provided a highlight for head coach Dylan Kerr and his charges in their ground-breaking tour to the UK as the first East African outfit to enjoy the privilege.

Afterwards, the Everton staff proceeded to take a few of the players around the hub of the club’s community operations, with the lucky men getting a memorable chance that will go down as another focus of their trip.

The building that houses the project is located less than 50 steps from the stadium and on arrival, everyone was welcomed in traditional English fashion, with a cup of tea.

The old fashioned structure was opened in 2016 by the Royal family and its estimated cost was 1.2 million pounds (over KSh158.78m), established to help the less privileged, drug addicts and homeless people of the Liverpool community.

Two people die a week because of suicide in the area and they set up the foundation to be able to help in any way that they can, according to Everton officials.

Tighten rules

“There is a lot of knife crime in the community and we are trying to raise the issue to tighten the rules regarding the same.

“One in seven people carry a knife in the Liverpool area so we are trying to make them understand that they don’t need to do that to keep safe.

“This foundation is making huge steps in helping the community and we open our doors to any and everyone, no matter what club they are affiliated with,” Sarah Atherton, the project Neighbourhood Manager told SportPesa News.

She then proceeded to take the players around the building to show the different projects that they are working on, starting with a well-manicured turf for kids to play on, named after the late legendary Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff.

“We are working closer with the Liverpool Football Club community and this initiative is proving to be very important for the area,” Atherton stated, revealing tackling societal ills in the city has brought together the bitter rivals across Stanley Park.

The life expectancy in Liverpool is 65, elsewhere in the UK it’s up to 89, meaning that there is plenty of work to be done to make more of an impact, she further stressed.

Many people who are homeless come for help here and there are 30 employees at any given time to offer advice or help in whatever way they can Atherton explained.

“We are open to engage with as many people as we can to help the community.

“We offer football, netball among many other sports to try and keep the young people in the community from different vices,” she continued.

The tour went on outside the compound to a neighbouring building that they call ‘The Blue Base’ which is mainly a recreational centre that takes people away from their addictions.

A blue and white building with a fantastic interior, filled with a mini bar, TV screens and board games are the most noticeable things once one enters that room.

Outside is a small garden area where trees were recently planted after the Premier League gifted them to Everton to commemorate the fallen World War One veterans.

Poppy badges

All the players were then handed badges with the poppy sign that symbolises the remembrance of the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for their country on Armistice Day.

The final place visited was the Everton Free School and just as the name suggests, it costs nothing to attend.

The school was originally set up in the city centre but they moved here and set up a fantastic establishment.

Many young people, who have had struggles financially or cannot continue with school for a reason or another, are provided with this wonderful opportunity to finish their education.

“It’s great to see many young people come and seek help here. It’s a pleasure to help them and take them through our projects to help them better themselves,” Atherton offered.

The school has done well since its inception and currently has 140 students in the lower school and 60 in the senior.

It is such programmes that have endeared Everton to the local and wider community, with the project’s works coming to the fore when they visited Tanzania last year to face Gor at the National Stadium in Dar.

During that tour where the Blues were the first Premier League team to visit East Africa, players, staff and club ambassadors went around touring schools and institutions catering for disadvantaged members of the society.

An exhibition match between them and a Tanzanian Albino team as well as visits to children homes were some of the most enduring stops of the tour, with the drive winning Everton and title partners SportPesa two awards at the Sports Industry Awards of the UK.

It now falls on the Gor fraternity present during Monday’s leg of the tour to return home and emulate the works of ‘Everton in the Community’ having benchmarked how to engage in community service using the popular game of football.

-Louis Kalinga is reporting from Liverpool, United Kingdom