Everton in the Community is the official charity of Everton Football Club.
We develop over 40 social programmes for the people of Merseyside, combating a range of
social issues and problems - and we’ve had great success over many years.
We are a charity that goes to the hardest to reach places within the Merseyside area,
predominantly the L4 area.
Knowsley Veterans’ Hub is an organisation just for military veterans. Four years ago, I was
diagnosed with PTSD and it offers so much - confidence, self-esteem; it gives me something
to look forward to. Even if they don’t know you, straight away there’s banter. We instantly
have that bond because we’ve been through the same situations.
We went down and met the veterans and you get to have a really relaxed conversation
and hear their stories. It was such a positive day, lots of people are benefiting from it
- it’s great.
Military is all based on trust. You have to trust the man next to you. Any time I was
in trouble, I could ring any of them up. The staff at Everton in the Community, as well.
Without it, I’d be lost.
Pass on the Memories is a project that’s been going for about five years.
If people didn’t come out, they’d get very depressed, wouldn’t they?
It's just enjoyable. It’s the highlight of our week.
It’s sort of become part of our life, hasn’t it? We plan our week around it really.
Normally you don’t join in with much, do you? But he’s so glad now,
he said he'd even come without me!
The Club’s always been known as a family club and, as families do, they provide a support
system for the people around them. And that’s what Everton in the Community provide to the
Evertonians and the city as a whole.
Girls Onside is one of our flagship mental health programmes. Women who are experiencing
mental illness or poor mental wellbeing can engage in the programme. There’s fantastic peer
support in terms of perception about themselves, optimism for the future...
They're not going through whatever it is alone.
It’s about looking after yourself and looking after your body - and mental health is just the
same thing, but just looking after your mind.
We’re very excited to launch our new campaign. We understand the issues and concerns within
our city and now what we want to do is to raise enough funds to build our own purpose-built
centre next to the People’s Hub and our school.
We have been a charity that has promoted positive physical health over many years and what
we wanted to do is have this centre which is a beacon to do exactly that for mental health.
We’re fortunate, as players, to be in a position where people will listen to you.
You can deliver a message and reach an audience - and that’s the power of the football club
and something we’ve got to try to tap into as much as possible.
Mental health is an ever-growing topic of conversation. This campaign now is something
that myself, the staff and all the players want to get behind and work alongside all our fans.
Since the first day I arrived at the Club, everybody talked to me about the Everton family.
We want to keep creating this fantastic connection between us, our fans and all the community.
Of course we want to support them and in the same way, we want to give them something special.
For us, it’s a positive development in the community. Removing the issue and the stigma
and making this a positive place to visit to get the support you require.