Meyer and Sakho make surprise delivery at local holiday club

Palace players Max Meyer and Mamadou Sakho joined children to play football, dodgeball, golf and archery at a summer holiday club aimed at keeping children healthy during the school holidays.

The two first-teamers arrived fresh from their morning training session, surprising youngsters at a school just down the road from Selhurst Park with tickets to Palace’s upcoming friendly game against Hertha BSC.

Midfielder Meyer said: “Me and Mama had a lot of fun playing football and dodgeball with the children, we were very happy to be here and see their happy faces. We answered their questions and then gave them some tickets for the game against Hertha. It’s really important for us to meet the children when we can, it’s really good to be here.”

Run by the club’s official charity, Palace for Life Foundation, and backed by Croydon Council and Family Action, the free holiday club is running four days a week throughout the summer. There are two venues: Heavers Farm Primary School in South Norwood and at Salvation Army in Thornton Heath, providing vital to help families in Croydon.

There is a focus on physical activities as well as workshops on healthy eating and mental health, with every child getting a healthy lunch and a snack each day.

After getting involved with all of the sports on offer, Meyer and Sakho answered the children’s questions about life as a professional footballer, before surprising each child with a pair of tickets for Saturday’s game at Selhurst Park.

Meyer, who joined Palace last summer from German side Schalke, thinks the game will be a good test for the Eagles: “They changed their manager over the summer so I don’t know exactly their style of play, but I do know some of their players, we played together in the youth teams for Germany.

“Berlin are a good team in the Bundesliga and it will be a very good test for us one week before our first game in the Premier League to see where we are. We played a very good game last Saturday and I hope we can do that again and get another win.”

Health and Wellbeing Manager at Palace for Life Foundation Beth Towle added: “It was such a treat for the children to meet Max and Mamadou and receive their tickets for the game, they are all extremely excited!

“Our holiday programme is backed by Croydon Council and Family Action and is all about encouraging children to stay active and eat healthily over the school holidays. Most importantly, we want the children to have fun and that’s what today was all about.”