Pompey in the Community (PitC) and Oxford United in the Community (OUitC) are working in partnership to tackle loneliness as part of the national “Tackling Loneliness Together” EFL Trust Project and joined forces for the match on Tuesday 23rd February. 

A recent study from the Office National Statistics (ONS) showed that 2.6 million adults reported that they felt lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’ whilst 7.4 million adults reported their wellbeing had been affected through them having felt lonely in the past seven days. 

Therefore, both Club Community Organisations have been awarded funding through the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the English Football League Trust (EFLT) to explore ways to bring people together to build strong community spirit, with a focus on groups at particular risk of loneliness. PitC will work to continue these initiatives in the future.  

For the match on Tuesday 23rd February, PitC and OUitC joined together to host a joint Zoom call with both Portsmouth and Oxford fans, over the age of 65, to watch the match together. Both sets of fans were joined by Alan Knight, Portsmouth Football Club Legend and Paul Moody, Oxford United Football Club Legend. The fans were able to watch the game live on iFollow whilst sharing stories and memories from football over the years with each other via the Zoom platform. 

If you would like to find out more about the “Tackling Loneliness Together Project” or what both Club Community Organisations are doing please visit www.pompeyitc.co.uk &  https://www.oufc.co.uk/news/2021/february/community-tackle-loneliness/ .