Football Legend Hands Over Minibus

Young, aspiring Thamesmead footballers received a visit from former Millwall, Chelsea and England footballer, Dennis Wise on Wednesday 8 October.

The former Central Midfielder visited Sporting Club Thamesmead for the official handover of a minibus which offers young Thamesmead residents the chance to travel to different venues and areas of the U.K., providing opportunities and life experiences.

Thamesmead Town Football Academy players took time-out of their training session to meet the football legend who told them to work hard if they want to make it in the premiership.

FA, Premiership League and UEFA cup winner, Dennis Wise said: “The Dennis Wise & Frankham Group Charitable Trust is involved in a lot of community work, from providing minibuses to funding often living-saving equipment for individuals. I understand the importance of this minibus and how hard it would be for the team to travel to away matches if it wasn’t for having access to it. I also know it’s where the real team bonding takes place. It is fantastic to meet the youngsters who are benefiting from using it.”

Peabody’s Executive Director, Community Investment, Stephen Burns said: “This minibus is already being used to provide transportation to several groups of Thamesmead residents including Thamesmead Town Football Academy and Thamesmead Youth Voice members.  It really gives us an opportunity to expand life experiences for local young people and others and we look forward to using it extensively.”

Seventeen-year-old Thamesmead Town Football Academy student, Tiago Silva said: “It’s brilliant to have access to our own minibus. The team realises how lucky we are to have it.”

Steve Frankham, Chairman, Frankham Consultancy Group Limited said: “We are delighted to be part of providing Trust Thamesmead with a mini bus which hopefully will be enjoyed by the community. This is our fourth bus and we currently have a further three on order. Our goal is to provide 100 buses to various organisations with our community. We would like to thank all our supporters who have helped make these presentations possible.”