Staff at JAF were thrilled at the news that we would be attending the England Vs USA football match at Wembley Stadium on Thursday the 15th of November.
Tooting Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin Khan had contacted our Co-Founder Joseph to offer tickets to staff and young people from our various youth projects. She had worked with the FA to provide tickets to the big match for schools, clubs and organisations in her local constituency of Tooting.
Deciding how to distribute the tickets was a tough call for us, as there were not enough tickets for everyone to attend, but Joseph decided to be a little bit cheeky and request a few more tickets, and as luck would have it Dr Allin-Khan granted his wish. We were given a total allocation of 40 tickets!! This allowed us to give tickets to a few of the youth workers from organisations we work with around London to bring small groups of young people with them to the match. We were even able to give away a pair of tickets on DJ Milktray’s Radio show on OnTop FM, where the Jimmy Asher Foundation sponsors his positive ‘Milktray’s Motivation’ segment. The lucky winner came to the JAF HQ with a friend to collect her prize and meet our staff.
We shared our exciting news all over our social media pages using the hashtag #TootingGoesToWembley.
When the big day came, we gathered outside the stadium to meet the few groups that had not yet collected their tickets from our office. We posed for group photos and shared our excitement for the game ahead. Not only was it most of our group’s first time seeing England play, it was also most of their first time visiting Wembley Stadium, and many of the young people’s first live football match. To top it all, Wayne Rooney was playing his final game for England - What a momentous occasion!
We whooped, cheered and chanted throughout the game, waving the JAF banner above our heads. During half time, the legendary Usain Bolt made a surprise appearance on the pitch to oversee a light-hearted relay race.
The match ended in a 3-0 victory to England (though no goal from Rooney) and everyone was happy despite the long and crowded journey out of the stadium.
We have to give a big thank you once again to Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and the FA for enabling us and other organisations in Tooting to give a memorable night to so many people.
To see more photos, visit our Instagram page www.instagram.com/jimmyasherfoundation
