#NoHomeKit: Weston football club kick-off Shelter's national homelessness campaign
Weston-Super-Mare AFC were the first club in country to take part in the #NoHomeKit campaign this year for the homeless charity, Shelter
Last updated 7th Dec 2022
Every 90 minutes, 25 households are made homeless in England - that's the statistic shared by the homeless charity, Shelter - who have launched this year's #NoHomeKit campaign.
Up and down the country, football clubs will be joining the campaign, as footballers, clubs, and their fans seek to raise money and awareness to the UK's crisis in homelessness.
Last weekend, Weston Super Mare AFC joined the campaign - and, pretty incidentally, also launched it.
Their match - at home to Hartley Wintney - at the Optima Stadium was the first of the 2022 winter season in the country to have their team play at home - but not in their home kit - and now, it's hoped their community-focussed momentum carries itself across the country.
Weston-super-Mare AFC v Hartley Wintney Programme Cover
What is #NoHomeKit?
Here in the South, and you may have already heard about the campaign - thanks to the involvement of the Southern Football League, last year raising over £500,000 for the cause alone.
This year is the second year of the campaign, with the Pitching In league saying they want it to be 'bigger and better' this time around - and are encouraging all clubs - like Weston-super-Mare AFC - to get involved.
The premise is a pretty simple one - clubs need to dedicate the date of one fixture at home to not wear their usual home team colours, and instead use one of their away strips or third kits in order to raise awareness of the issues currently faced by hundreds of thousands of people across the UK suffering from homelessness.
Weston's campaign
This time round, Weston-super-Mare AFC found themselves to be the inaugural launchers of this year's campaign - becoming Shelter's forerunner representative of clubs across the country.
Speaking about his team's involvement, Club Secretary Niel Bassom said: "It's a brilliant thing to be a part of - especially with the cost of living crisis that I think many people are going to endure over this coming winter.
"The #NoHomeKit initiative for us can make the game look and feel a bit weird - so to bring that to the forefront of how those who are homeless can sometimes feel makes it a really worthwhile thing to do.
"Saying that, this fixture was a very unique day for the club. Last weekend, all matches were brought forward to 12:30 because of the World Cup - so we had a day where we played at a time we weren't used to, in an away kit in our own ground, with a unique atmosphere - but the fans bought right into it."
Weston-super-Mare AFC didn't fundraise for their campaign - but instead encouraged people to donate to a local homeless shelter instead.
Niel added: "As a club, we are very community-led, having ladies' teams, walking football teams, those in their 70s, right down to children under 8.
"Here, push ourselves as a 'one club, one community' organisation - so anything we can do to highlight homelessness, as a community club, we want to do it."
This is just one of many campaigns this community-led club runs throughout the year - and later this money, they're running a food donation match, for people to bring a little food with them to donate to the people who need it the most.
But, for Niel, the #NoHomeKit campaign was a special thing to be a part of - and an even more special thing to launch, for Shelter's national campaign.
Niel added: "We were very keen to join up to do this, encourage fans to get involved, swapping the kit during the donations... it's all part of this 'One Club' mentality that we have here.
"It was quite a shock to find out on Friday night that we were the first club to do this in 2022, but it was a lovely thing for the charity to pick up on before the players even got onto the pitch on Saturday.
"But - these campaigns are not without community. Without the community there, we're simply not here."
Last year, Shelter say their emergency helpline advised 17,281 households - as they continue on their fight for everyone to have a safe home.
You can find out more about the #NoHomeKit campaign with Shelter and donate to this year's project here.
You can also check out how the Southern Football League are supporting this year's campaign here.