The story of how AFC Portchester FC are helping their community during lockdown

And on the back of those ten words, Steve Johnson and a group of other volunteers are helping to ensure AFC Portchester FC are still playing during lockdown.

They might not be playing any football - their season has been cancelled and declared null and void by the FA; instead, they are playing something far more important - a major role in helping the elderly, the vulnerable and the needy in their community during the Covid-91 pandemic.

Food parcels are being distributed daily, prescriptions are being collected, cash is being raised via an online appeal, and hot meals are being cooked by Amy Wells in the Crest Finance Stadium kitchen for anyone who asks for one.

That is the current situation but, even before lockdown was announced by prime minister Boris Johnson on March 23, the Wessex League club had sprung into action.

And when chairman Paul Kelly was wondering who he could call on to help, Johnson was one of the first on his list.

That was no major surprise - Johnson lives locally and was involved when the club changed its name from Wicor Mill to AFC Portchester in the late 1990s, progressing from the Hampshire League to the Wessex shortly after.

He was also assistant manager to Graham Rix at the club before leaving in 2017 to concentrate on his day job as chief executive of the Royal Navy FA - based at HMS Temeraire in Portsmouth - and his FA commitments. Due to his Navy role, Johnson also sits on the FA Council as well as three other committees.

Johnson recalled: ‘Paul rang me and said he had this idea, and I said ‘I’m with you’.

‘I wanted to do something, my moral compass told me I had to do something.

‘I’d already done some research and I’d seen a national Covid-19 aid database had been set up online.

‘Registering with that gave the group some structure, some guidance, some leadership, instead of seven or eight people keen to help but not knowing exactly what to do.

‘We drew up a minimum list of objectives - to organise food parcels, to run errands, set up a Justgiving page, to make hot meals - it’s easy to come up with lots of ideas but we wanted those to be our main focus.’

Very quickly, once word spread, the club were receiving daily food donations and members of the community had come forward to volunteer their services.

An initial problem was more than enough food, but not enough people to deliver it to.

‘We started off on social media but quickly realised that the people we were trying to identify were not on social media,’ explained Johnson.

‘The Acts of Kindness charity, run by Fareham Borough Council, were on the floor and had identified vulnerable people in the community to help.

‘It changed when we contacted local schools and spoke to their safeguarding teams. Through them we found an exit route to get some of our food out - that’s how the ball really started rolling.

‘We also spoke to a veterans group (Project 71) and they come in to pick up food for their ex-servicemen. We’re trying to supplement what they do.

‘We had a great story on Tuesday. We took a call from an NHS First Responder who knew of a wheelchair-bound 93-year-old woman in the community. She has terminal cancer and is housebound.

‘She was lacking in food, and could we help? It was heartwarming to meet the lady, she had been struggling and she was emotional when we turned up.

‘Something like that makes it all worthwhile.’

Johnson - a former assistant manager at Hawks from 2008 to 2012 under Shaun Gale - added: ‘We also delivered to a school in Paulsgrove, I’d been talking to a neighbour and she’s an admin lady at the school.

‘She didn’t think they were in our catchment area, but it didn’t make any difference to us.

‘Within 24 hours we were able to take 15 food parcels, and it was great to see the look on the teacher’s face knowing they could support their families.

‘There’s some care homes we visit and we’re still taking ad hoc calls.

‘We deliver food parcels, but it could be medicines - I’ve stood in a queue for two hours to collect a prescription for an old lady, and we’ve got other volunteers who will do that if it’s needed.’

One of the first volunteers to offer their help to Portchester was Julie Sexton.

She was no stranger to the club, but not in a spectating role.

‘I’m not a football fan, but I know AFC is a good place to go socialising - I’ve been to some cracking parties there,’ she said. ‘It’s a perfect place to go - no neighbours to worry about the noise.

‘I’ve also been down there when the Lee Rigby Cup matches have taken place. But I’ve gone around picking up the litter as I don’t watch the football!’

The pair are also volunteers at the youth club based at the Royals’ ground.

‘A problem we had early on was trying to make people aware of what we were doing,’ she explained..

‘But I can understand that some people, if they are struggling, might feel a bit too proud.

‘Some vulnerable people might find it hard to say they need help - I would probably be one of them.

‘We’ve had to go out and find these people.

‘Word is slowly spreading. One of the schools we contacted has put something in one of their newsletters, and we had a call from someone who had read it.

‘We’ve had so many donations. The Seagull pub have been very accommodating and I walked into Marks & Spencers and asked them if they had any meat. I walked out with a chicken, mince, sausages - they also gave me potatoes, onions.

‘That one chicken could be a family’s Sunday roast dinner.’

Sexton has been impressed with the community spirit in the area, which has even involved the elderly giving some items in their food parcels back to the club.

‘The old people in Portchester seem fairly well looked after,’ she explained.

‘They have had their food parcels from Boris, the old and the vulnerable. Some of them have donated some of their food to us - two people who are 81 said they didn’t need their pasta and gave it to us!

‘That’s absolutely brilliant. I made sure one of them had six tins of food for their dog.’

When food is donated at the ground, Sexton washes it all by hand and her sister Penny Wilkinson - another volunteer ‘press-ganged into helping!’ - is also involved in sorting it out into parcels for distribution. Johnson does the delivering as he has been DBS checked due to his FA commitments. ‘We want to make sure everything is above board,’ he said.

‘We’ve got a dirty area at the room and a clean area,’ Sexton added. ‘All the food that comes in I wash in the dirty area - if it’s sunny I’ve washed it outside.

‘We date all the food that’s donated.

‘My husband and I had got involved with the youth club that had just started up at the club on Wednesdays. We were starting to build up the numbers - I don’t know what the kids would think seeing all this food here instead of their Wifi equipment!’

So far, the club’s online appeal has raised almost £2,400 - boosted by a £1,00 donation from Trevor Deacon and another anonymous donation of £995.

‘On Monday just gone we did our first shop, we spent £200,’ Sexton added. ‘Previously we’d only used the donations.’

Johnson is not surprised the club have rallied round to help their community.

‘This club has always been built on a community theme,’ he remarked. ‘I know it’s the first team that always gets looked at, but what’s beneath that is just as important.

‘The club put the same value in the under-8s and under-9s as they do the first team.

‘Paul’s been the driving force, the good community feel has always been there.’

Sexton, meanwhile, has also started collecting unwanted children’s clothes for distribution to the needy. ‘People are going to be vulnerable for quite a while after all this is over,’ she explained.

‘You can give yourself a really good feeling by doing something, rather than sat at home being bored.

‘You feel you are doing as much as you can.’