Dinner & Speaker Keith Mabbut, Street Soccer

Tue, Nov 27th 2018 at 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Changing Lives Through Football

Keith Mabbut, founder of Street Soccer, treated the club to a fascinating presentation on his charity which aims to help vulnerable and homeless young people through the power of football.

Keith Mabbutt

After a successful career playing for Charlton, Millwall, and Gillingham, Keith started to consider his next move in life and was inspired to help young people facing homelessness after listening to a news report on the radio about the huge amount of young people who are street homeless. In 2015, Street Soccer was established and it has grown from strength to strength. The Charity offers young homeless people a 10-week programme to develop their employability, change their mindset and outlook on life, and develop their confidence and resilience through football. The programme has been life changing for some young people who have now found employment and/or are in secure accommodation.

To show solidarity with all those who are currently facing homelessness as a day to day reality, Keith and his team recently held a "sleepout" at Priestfield stadium in June to experience what it would be like to be street homeless and to raise awareness.

Finally, Keith explained that he is now working on a new commercial branch for the Charity called 'Goal 17' which is a socially-driven corporate events company. This will allow the Charity to bid for further funding and support more young people.

Lynn gave a gracious vote of thanks to Keith for his detailed presentation and she, along with the rest of the Club, was deeply shocked by the statistics about the amount of young people who are currently homeless in the UK. It was recognised that Street Soccer was a great initiative and we wish Keith every success for the future.

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