MADE IN SOUTH LONDON: A YEAR ON…
Today marks a year since we launched ‘Made in South London’, our campaign to raise £1 million in three years to help scale up the projects we already run, so we can help thousands more south Londoners. A year later, we're thrilled to say that our supporters have contributed an astounding £395,317 to the campaign so far!
We launched Made in South London a year ago with the help of comedian, multi-talented creative and Palace for Life Patron Ben Bailey Smith, who kindly offered his time and expertise to write and star in a short film, with the help of some Palace players, to help us relay our message to Palace fans. And you listened!
Since the launch, our supporters have raised an incredible £395,317 towards the campaign so far. This is thanks in part to our amazing supporters like members of our Investors Club, a group of like-minded Palace fans who have financially supported the campaign and regularly come together to work out how to raise more vital funds and better support more young people in our community.
A special thank you also goes to fans who have purchased our Made in South London apparel range, fans who have given at matchdays, and anyone who has been kind enough to donate any amount of money, or their time to help young south Londoners directly or spread the word of our work.
And, as ever, a huge thank you goes to our Marathon March and Bike to Villa participants, who have contributed enormously to our fundraising.
Since the launch, we’ve already got to work, having already provided training and career skills to an additional 22 young people through our employment programme, mentoring 71 more people through our Targeted Intervention team, delivering free sports sessions to an additional 1,004 young people through the Premier League Kicks programme, and working with 386 more individuals through our Disability Sports programmes since September (numbers as of September 2022 February 2023).
But why did we launch the campaign? As the official charity of Palace, we recognise our unique position within the community and the responsibility we have to act. Through Made in South London, we have been able to connect with our club, charity, and community, raising awareness and funds to support the programmes that improve the lives of young south Londoners.
Unfortunately, south London, particularly Croydon, is one of the most deprived parts of the capital. Only in 2021, 30 children were killed in London, 5 of those were in Croydon, and the youth unemployment rate for 16 – 24-year-olds was 3.7 times higher than that of 25-63-year-olds.
Knife crime has risen by 60% in London in the last 4 years and there continues to be an influx of violent crimes reported in our borough.
Our supporters have done brilliantly so far, and donations and far surpassed our expectations, but we’re still looking for support. If you like what you hear, and want to find out where your donations go, head here.
And if you want to hear about some of the people we have helped, check out our south London stories page, here.