The pitch at Bootle FC is frozen over after a week of sub-zero temperatures on Merseyside.
On Saturday (December 17), the first team will travel to Staffordshire for an away game in the Northern Premier League. However, there is far more on the agenda at the club than football.
Standing pitchside at the club's Berry Street Garage Stadium on Vesty Road is Joe Doran, 39, a club trustee. Dressed in a club coat, with a snood to temper the icy cold, he speaks to the ECHO about Bootle FC's decision to provide assistance during the cost of living crisis.
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Last Thursday, the club announced it was opening its clubhouse from 2pm until 10pm every weekday, to function as a community hub. The club advertised it as a safe and warm space for people to spend time, with free hot drinks, TV and board games on offer.
It is one of a growing number of spaces across the country operating as 'warm banks' this winter, as the brutal cost of living crisis leaves many struggling to heat their homes. In Merseyside, libraries, charity centres and religious buildings have opened their doors for people in need of a warm space.
Joe, 39, tells the ECHO that providing such a space was a natural decision for the club, which was founded in the Sefton town in 1880 and reformed in 1954. He said that Bootle FC and its project Bootle Bucks Inclusion FC are built on inclusivity, leading those involved with the club to feel they had to do something during this time.
About the decision to run the community hub, Joe said: "Community outreach is something we’ve always tried to capture, ever since we started. It’s one thing to say you want to say you want to be part of the community, it’s another thing to deliver it.
"When we got on site back in the 2005/06 season, our primary aim was to get the club back up and running but since then, we’ve progressed every year and we’ve done lots of things with the football club. In the last two or three years, we’ve had some really good people come on board who have put the club and its priorities first."
"It’s something that we’ve always wanted to do, but over the past few years and the way things have gone with the pandemic, it felt like now was the right time - with the cost of living crisis - to cement and crystallise all of those things that we’ve done in little bits. We’ve always done food bank collections, we’ve always had charities down here, we have a charity partner, we work closely with Sefton Council.
"We felt the time was right now, facing the cost of living crisis and the way things are. We are already embedded in the community in terms of hosting functions and we run a bar that is open seven days a week, but the time was right to give a bit back.
"We thought that if we extend our opening hours, we could offer people a warm sanctuary and now is the time to do it."
After announcing they would open as a community hub, Bootle received plenty of support. Joe said: " People have come forward and offered selection boxes for the kids and food and we've had messages on Facebook from people asking if we need volunteers."
Taxi firms have offered to pick people up and take them to the warm hub, while the club is making use of its links with local charities Sefton Community Pantry and the L30 Community Centre. A fter just over a week of providing the space, Joe and those at the club want to make sure that nobody feels a stigma about attending and that they know they can come forward for help if needed.
He said: "It’s been a real mix of people, both attending and as volunteers. We’ve had some people - previous players at the club have been down, people from our existing Bootle Bucks Inclusion project, we’ve had lots of them getting involved and coming down to volunteer.
"It's been going around a week now and take-up isn’t quite what we expected. We thought people would be coming straight to us but they haven’t.
"I fear people might possibly be too proud to come forward. What we’ve spoken about now is putting events on, rather than just telling people ‘if your home is too cold and you can’t afford to heat it, come down’, we could put on a free quiz night or a games night or a movie night.
" It’s a really tough one, because I’d like to imagine that the community spirit and the ethos is well received. I’m just wary of the fact that some people could be put off by admitting that they can’t afford heating.
"What I would say is that everybody’s in the same storm, we’re just all in different boats. If we can say ‘there’s a port here that you can come and stop in when you need or want’, then that’s great.
"We already use the facilities, we’ve got a party in having their Christmas meal today. We’ve been going out every day leafleting the local area for hours on end, we do want to get the word out that we’re here.
"We don’t want people to feel a stigma. The people who come might end up developing strong relationships with the club and who knows, next year when we put a call out for volunteers, people might feel a part of what we do and get involved.
"It really is a cycle, whatever you put in, you should get out. I really don’t want people to worry about a stigma.
"Even if you want to come down and have a cup of tea or a coffee, play a few board games or play a game of pool, please do. If people do feel there is a stigma, there are ways around that."
Joe believes that a football club is uniquely positioned to provide such a service, as it is not just providing a warm space but an existing community for people to join and lean on.
He said: "We’ve already got a thriving, successful community centred around football. We have teams right from under-6s to a veterans team. On Saturday, our first team is playing away to Leek Town, we’re taking two coaches of people, there will be around 70 Bootle FC fans going down - that community is already there.
"But if you’re not interested in football or there’s another aspect of the community you want to get involved in, you can. We’re only a direct message or a tweet away. If we can help you, we will."
Though the club is able to provide the community hub, it has not been immune from the cost of living crisis. Joe said, though running costs have increased, he and the club's other officials feel it is in a position where it can give back.
Joe said: "We are in a difficult time for people. Without getting too political, it hasn’t been the most successful of years. There have been some strange decisions."
He added: "My plea to people is that if you do need help, you don’t have to come down and say ‘I’m here for the warm hub’, you can show up because you want to see some people or do some volunteering. Whatever, just make the inroads.
"It shouldn’t have come to us, but if anyone needs assistance, we are here. There are no formalities, there’s not a register to sign. Just come down, have a cup of tea, have a biscuit, see who else is here and have a chat.
"It’s that old saying: a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes it takes a tough decision to step out and come down here."
Bootle FC's community hub is open from 2pm to 10pm on weekdays. All are welcome.
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