After a week of grim headlines staining the national game, it is timely to reflect on the good work that football also does, particularly a club like Everton where 140 staff are involved full-time in community projects and players such as John Stones and Steven Naismith run autism and homeless initiatives respectively.

“We get letters from people saying we’ve changed their life,’’ said Dr Denise Barrett-Baxendale, the chief executive of Everton in the Community who is also deputy chief executive of the club, a reflection on how deeply embedded the community ethos is at Goodison Park. “I can get in a taxi, or be out for a meal, and people say: ‘I don’t wear a blue shirt but I respect your club for what you do in the community and what you stand for.’

“I got an email off a gentleman who said: ‘I’ve been a Liverpool season-ticket holder for 20 years but I wear a blue shirt today in the acknowledgment of the work you do with disability teams across Merseyside.’ ”

Everton run 26 disability teams, and two of their footballers competed in the London Paralympics. Another benefiting from one of the club’s myriad schemes, a young badminton player who has dwarfism, is in training for next year’s Paralympics. Everton challenge people to target “the podium” in Rio.

Their schemes are extensive. Everton work with young offenders, achieving a 76 per cent non-reoffending rate in the first year, compared with the national figure of 26%. They run a programme to tackle dementia, using old interviews from legends like Dixie Dean on audio CDs to stir memories. They have opened Everton Free School, transforming the lives of children who were struggling educationally. They look after children whose lives have been scarred by crime, hosting one annual event for those whose families have been affected by manslaughter.

So many projects. Everton run social-inclusion schemes. They back projects confronting racism and homophobia. This year, Everton are extending their work internationally and also focusing on environmental issues. All Premier League clubs are involved in community work but few do it as well as Everton, the self-styled “People’s Club”.

“We don’t do community because we should be seen to do it, we do it because we want to and because it’s needed,’’ Barrett-Baxendale said. “We service over 2,000 charitable requests per season. Demand is so high, with the increase in referrals from the health service, and education and employment issues. A gentleman unemployed for 10 years may find interaction with a Jobcentre difficult but we can use the power of the Everton crest to engage with him.

“We use our fan-base, contacting Evertonians who may have the opportunity for him to return to work and are much more likely to give somebody a chance because they have an affinity with the club. But it doesn’t matter the colour of your kit. If you need help from Everton in the Community you will receive it. Supporters from other teams come to us.

“Five years ago when I arrived we had 45 full-time staff. We now have 140 full-time. We’ve just secured a second large commissioning contract from the Government, a contract value of £7 million, enabling us to create another 30 full-time jobs. We have 188 volunteers who do phenomenal work and another floating 55 to 60, community coaches, some in Alder Hey [hospital] every day working with young people in very difficult circumstances.
“Other organisations would envy the staff we have who are so committed to doing things in the right and proper way, the Everton Way. Evertonians are born, not manufactured. My team feel very much they are the embodiment of the People’s Club.

“Our club originated from the Methodist Church, occupying young boys outside of the cricket season. The staff totally buy into the values that underpin this club: ‘Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum.’ ‘Nothing but the best is good enough’ for people who come through the door here.’’

A passionate Everton supporter who spent part of her youth making huge blue-and-white rosettes, Barrett-Baxendale was presented with an MBE by the Queen in October for “services to the Merseyside community”. During the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Queen observed “that this is a side of football that people are unaware of”, according to Barrett-Baxendale.

“This club is a family,’’ Barrett-Baxendale said. “The chairman [[Bill Kenwright] is involved in the charity work. Our chief executive [Robert Elstone] is a trustee of Everton in the Community. Lady Harriet, the wife of [life president] Sir Philip Carter, is a patron. Commitment to the community seeps through every level of the club.”

Everton legends like Graeme Sharp are involved. Dame Judi Dench is honorary patron. Roberto Martínez contributes extensively. “Roberto’s support has been staggering,’’ Barrett-Baxendale said. “We would never do anything that was a distraction for him from the football but he has a real commitment to the community. He hosts events, charity auctions. He has a sense of integrity.

“The manager’s wife [Beth] is engaged in our charity. The players are brilliant too. We have player ambassadors like Phil Jagielka and Leon Osman. They’re great. They set the benchmark of what it means to play for Everton. They visit hospitals, talking to young people and their family, and the impact is terrific. We also get phenomenal support from our Under-21s and [coach] David Unsworth.

“We select six or eight home games a season and when everyone has gone home, we open up the ground for people in need in the community. We’ll put on a meal for them, have entertainment, and then give them the ‘big blue bag’ of non-perishables to take away. Players come in, sit down, and talk to them. It’s important they get that direct contact with their heroes. It’s also good for the players; it puts things in perspective.

“All the players have different areas of interest. Steven Naismith has a personal commitment to a homeless charity. Steven has that real sense of personal compassion, he really does reach out. We have a homeless football league and have done a lot of work getting people to change their nutritional choices, tackle their alcohol and drug dependencies. Some people who were homeless five years ago are now working for us, paid members of staff.

“There’s no point parachuting players in, shaking hands, giving a certificate and going. That’s not the Everton Way. People want to be with their idol, to be with somebody who really cares about them and what they are going through. Our players have that genuine connection with people. John Stones has that. John is terrific, he really is. He’s a player who arrives with a smile on his face and a real commitment to the project. He takes time to listen.’’

The 20-year-old defender was recently lauded by the Professional Footballers’ Association for his community work which ranged from talking to young offenders, coaching wheelchair and autistic teams, making hospital visits and meeting those suffering illness or recently bereaved who have been invited to Goodison on match-days. “I remember the first visit I watched John do,’’ Barrett‑Baxendale said.
“A lady whose partner passed away donated £50,000 for a mini-bus for the disability programme. John was fantastic. He had a real genuine interest in what the lady had to say. He asked her: ‘Why Everton in the Community?’ She explained her husband’s commitment to the club, that he’d had a disability, and they’d watched the 26 disability teams that Everton run. She was overwhelmed by the extent of our provision in disability. She saw how we work with people, preparing them for Team GB for the Paralympics.

“What I really admire about this club is the way we do business from the top to the bottom, how we treat people with respect, how we have integrity, how the staff here are just incredible. Somebody said to me: ‘You’re a chief executive, or deputy at a club, but it it’s no difference to being chief executive of Tesco’s or Apple.’ I said: ‘Each and every day, I receive a letter from people who say ‘my child has passed away, I’m in this crisis’ and they turn to their club for help. They say: ‘Can we scatter the ashes at Goodison Park?’ I don’t know any Tesco’s or Apple where their chief executive or deputy would be asked that question.’

“That shows you the unique and very special role that we hold. It’s a huge responsibility because Everton mean so much to people. It’s an obsession. When I watch Everton play, I don’t sit there thinking ‘this is just a game’. How flippant would that be to say ‘it’s just a game’ to people who dedicate all their available resources to following us home and away, getting every shirt? They are absolutely fanatical.

“Everton mean so much to the community. That’s why we do the work we do. That’s why we are the People’s Club.”

By Henry Winter / Telegraph

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Naismith is a top bloke, I have heard about his charity from multiple sources who all say he is a great guy. Great to see Everton have fostered such a good communal atmosphere.

Watched a FB video about rewarding local nurses they put on at Goodison, they got a tour and to meet Martinez and some others, had a buffet and champagne etc. They don't have to do these things, but they do, and not to get recognition but because they want to build a better community which is very admirable.

They're never going to be the biggest or richest in cash terms, but they will be top of the league in terms of basic human nature and goodwill.

When our match with them got postponed on the day very close to kickoff this Everton fan had flown over and was tweeting from the stadium. Apparently they found him, took him to the dressing room and met the players and got a signed shirt. Its the little things, that really doesn't take a lot for teams to do, but means so much to the people involved.

Well then.

Lets hope they don't get relegated afteral, otherwise the money for all that will be sacridficed.

Will do!

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