Club celebrates first year in partnership with Noah’s Ark

The Club will be celebrating the first year of its Official Charity Partnership with Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice at this Sunday’s match with Everton at the Lane.

The two-year partnership sees the Club help raise awareness of North London’s only ‘Hospice at Home’ service and drives the recruitment of volunteers via high profile events and the support of first team players.

Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice provides clinical, emotional and practical care and support to children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, with a central aim of enabling them to live life as fully as possible, regardless of cognitive or sensory ability. The charity also offers respite and support to families, helping them to face the future with hope after bereavement.

It hopes to further increase its care provision to children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions within its catchment area of Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Islington, Camden and Hertsmere during the course of the partnership.

On Sunday, 10-year-old Alonso, a young fan who has been supported by Noah’s Ark since he was a baby, will be leading the team out as a mascot. This represents a dream-come-true for the youngster, who suffers from short-gut syndrome, which has required 46 procedures since he was born – including a bowel transplant in 2011.

Meanwhile, the team will wear partnership t-shirts in the warm-up and there will be a half-time pitch-side chat with former captain Gary Mabbutt alongside daytime TV star Judge Rinder – a Spurs fan who is also an ambassador for Noah’s Ark.

Partnership pin badges will be available to purchase in the Spurs Shop and online to help the cause and there will also be further collections held around the stadium by Noah’s Ark volunteers, with information made available to fans on how to become involved in the charity.

Ru Watkins, Chief Executive, Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice, said: “We are incredibly proud to be the Official Charity Partner of Tottenham Hotspur, an organisation renowned for being more than just a football club when it comes to giving back to its local community.

“The impact of the partnership in raising awareness of the great work we do has been wonderful, while fans have been very generous in their donations, messages of support and in signing up as volunteers. For this I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Above: Alonso meets Chirpy at the Lane.  

“To date fans have raised enough funds to pay for a paediatric palliative care nurse and a specialist carer for an entire year, as well as the cost of a special day bringing together all our families.

“Some of the children we support have also met their football heroes thanks to this partnership. There are no words to describe the happiness we’ve seen when a child encounters a player whose picture they have on their wall.

“We are so grateful to the Club and we look forward to even more success in the coming year.”

For more information on how to donate or volunteer, visit www.noahsarkhospice.org.uk