Homeless football team at 'breaking point' as charity risks closing

A football club for people facing homelessness says it will be forced to close if it cannot raise more cash.

Charity Street Football Wales, which is based in Cardiff but operates across Wales, needs £15,000 by the end of April.

Actor Michael Sheen, who previously financed the 2019 Homeless World Cup event after funding fell through, said he had seen "first-hand the transformation their support makes to lives", and one woman said it had saved her life.

Street Football Wales said although it had some funding coming through in May it would have to "close permanently" if it did not make up the rest of the money.

Bethan Thomas, the charity's interim director, said the charity landscape had become "increasingly difficult and competitive" since the pandemic, which had left organisations like hers "overly reliant on grants".

"We are not unique in this struggle," she added.

The charity helps more than 400 people every year who are facing homelessness, substance misuse, mental health challenges, or extreme social isolation.

As well as weekly training sessions and quarterly tournaments, every year the organisation competes in the Homeless World Cup, which is taking place in Mexico later this year.

It would be "unlikely" the teams would go should the closure go ahead.

Wayne Ellaway, from Cardiff, who was living in a homeless shelter and struggling with heroin addiction when he discovered street football, said: "I had lost everything, no focus, no direction, no purpose."

His life changed after playing in the 2015 Homeless World Cup in Amsterdam.

He later progressed to coaching the team at the 2018 tournament in Mexico, where he met his wife, Luisiana. The couple now live together in Cardiff.

After receiving help to get his driving licence, Wayne now works as a vendor development worker in Cardiff and a mobile sales and outreach worker in Newport.

He is urging people to check out the charity for themselves.

"Don't just donate and then move on," he said.

"Come and make it personal. Bring a pair of boots, come and have a game with us".

For Tor Planner, the journey to the pitch started behind closed doors. Struggling with severe agoraphobia and anxiety, she had not left her house in 18 months before joining Street Football Wales.

"It impacted my whole life," she said.

"I lost my job because I couldn't get to work, a relationship broke down, and I wasn't seeing my friends any more."

After spotting an event on social media just minutes from her home in Pembrokeshire, she decided to attend.

"As soon as I walked through the door, I was welcomed," she said. "Straight away my barriers went down."

Tor's progress was fast. She was named co-captain of the women's team and travelled to Oslo last August for the Homeless World Cup, where the team progressed the furthest it ever had in the tournament.

"I went from not being able to leave my house to leaving the country, getting on that plane to Norway," she said.

"Street Football Wales didn't change my life, it saved my life."

While she had previously tried counselling and CBT, she says her family agrees that football made the real difference.

Tor now works as a progress coach at a college and describes her life as "even better than before".

Speaking on the possibility of the charity closing, Tor said this would be devastating.

Despite her recovery, she remains a regular at the weekly sessions and fears for the future of the community.

"I don't know what I would do without Wednesday sessions," she said.

"I couldn't really put into words what I would do, or what the others would do, but it's a shame when it's done so much".

Michael Sheen, who stepped in to finance the 2019 Homeless World Cup after funding fell through says "he's seen first-hand the transformation their support makes to lives".

"Street Football Wales is about much more than a kickabout," the Welsh actor said.

Former Wales record goalscorer Helen Ward said the closure would leave a gap that "nothing can replace".

Ward, who scored 44 goals in 105 games for Wales, joined the charity four years ago. She said that after her first visit, there was "no hesitation" in getting involved.

"I think this is really unique," she said.

"It gives them a chance to go back to who they once were. It is a route back into happier times, something they used to do as a kid.

"People involved often don't have many friends or family and it gives them a community. I know how much it means to players and staff. It isn't just enhancing lives, it's saving lives."