The club's Street Violence Ruins Lives (SVRL) matchday is taking place on Saturday, September 11th as Charlton Athletic takes on Cheltenham Town at The Valley.
To help raise awareness for the campaign, first-team players will be wearing t-shirts as they walk on to the pitch to promote SVRL and the crime reduction work of Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) and partners, as will the club's mascots Floyd and Harvey and staff in the returning Family Activity Zone in the West Stand car park.
CACT’s Bexley Youth Engagement van will be based in the West Stand car park at The Valley from 1pm. Fans interested in finding out more about SVRL are encouraged to drop by.
An action-packed morning is in store for over 60 young people who regularly engage with CACT through diversionary activities as they are off to TeamSport Indoor Karting Docklands to participate in go-karting and mini golf activities. They will then stay for the match as part of the Community 500 ticket allocation provided by the club.
The SVRL campaign was launched in 2008 following the death of Rob Knox, and the current SVRL strategy has the aim of maximising the impact of CACT’s existing community reach to reduce levels of violence in the community, through one-to-one mentoring, group work and enrichment activities.
Mentoring continued online and over the phone following the Covid-19 outbreak. More than 5,400 hours of mentoring have been delivered to 400 young people over a 12-month period up to this April.
Josh Davison, Charlton Athletic striker and PFA Social Inclusion Ambassador for Social Inclusion, said: "CACT's Street Violence Ruins Lives initiative is incredibly important, and as PFA Social Inclusion Ambassador, I’m proud to endorse positive activities like those taking place on September 11th.
“We all have a part to play as a Charlton squad and will be wearing SVRL t-shirts once again on the 11th to show our support for the campaign."
Jess King, a Charlton Athletic Women player who also works for CACT as a mentor, said: “The Street Violence Ruins Lives project is such an important initiative. I’ve been lucky enough to see first-hand the work that CACT mentors do and I’m proud to support the programme.”
The Addicks host Cheltenham Town at The Valley on Saturday. Click here to purchase your ticket.