HUNDREDS PLAY ON THE PITCH AT SELHURST PARK
With the season finished and the sun out, hundreds of Palace for Life participants have had the chance to play at Selhurst Park at our annual Cut It Out and Play on the Pitch tournaments.
Monday 12th June saw our annual Cut It Out tournament, in partnership with MyEnds, return to Selhurst Park. The tournament gives south Londoners the chance to play on the pitch and introduce potentially at-risk young people to local organisations that can help divert them away from gang activity and crime.
There were some incredible efforts from all community teams, live music in the Fanzone, and Release Your Moves, a Croydon-based dance group, returned to open the tournament.
Penalty shootout at Cut It Out
Amongst the football and entertainment, the day has a serious message. Cut It Out exists to celebrate the work that has been done, and recognise the work still to be done to raise awareness of the support out there for young south Londoners who may be at risk of being involved in serious crime.
Beth Parker, Head of Community Engagement & Inclusion said:
“Cut It Out brings us all together, local organisations joining forces to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also serves as a reminder that there’s always more work to be done in supporting as many young people as we can.
South London has its share of big issues, but by working together across the MyEnds partnership and teaming up with organisations like the Met Police, Youth Offending teams, and the council, we stand a much better chance at tackling those challenges head-on. We are over the moon to make the most of our facilities and host this amazing event once again.”
The next day we hosted our Play on the Pitch day, which sees primary schools, college academies, and community teams all get their moment in the spotlight in a number of games on Selhurst’s turf.
110 students from 13 different primary schools played at Selhurst Park for our Play on the Pitch day
Around 600 participants walked down the tunnel to have their chance to play like a pro and we would like to thank each and every one of our participants for getting involved in our programmes, and we’re honoured that we can give them the once-in-a-lifetime chance to play at a Premier League ground.