Oxford United in the Community (OUitC) and Pompey in the Community (PitC) are working in partnership to tackle loneliness as part of the national “Tackling Loneliness Together” EFL Trust Project in our game on Tuesday evening.

A recent study from the Office National Statistics (ONS) showed that 2.6 million adults reported that they felt lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’ whilst 7.4 million adults reported their wellbeing had been affected through them having felt lonely in the past seven days.

Both club community organisations have been awarded funding through the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and the English Football League Trust (EFLT) to explore ways to bring people together to build strong community spirit, with a focus on groups at particular risk of loneliness and we will work to continue these initiatives in the future.

For our match on Tuesday both OUitC and PitC are joining together to host a joint Zoom with Oxford and Portsmouth fans, over the age of 65, to watch the match all as one.

The fans will be joined by Paul Moody, Oxford United legend, and Alan Knight, Portsmouth legend.

The fans will be able to watch the game live on iFollow whilst sharing stories and memories from football over the years with each other through Zoom.

If you would like to find out more about the “Tackling Loneliness Together Projects” or what both club community organisations are doing please visit

https://www.oufc.co.uk/news/2021/february/community-tackle-loneliness/

or

www.pompeyitc.co.uk

where you will find ways to contact the clubs and get involved.