PFA pledges £500,000 to Reposm Sporting Housing Trust which helps retired sportspeople on hard times

The PFA have pledged £500,000 to the Reposm Sporting Housing Trust, a charity devoted to providing sheltered accommodation for retired sportspeople who have fallen on hard times.

The players’ union agreed to make the donation to Reposm after the Sportsmail campaign raised awareness in August and it represents a huge step towards the initial target of raising £2million required to build the first block of a dozen flats.

‘This is phenomenal news,’ said Reposm Trust chairman Mike Soper. ‘I am absolutely ecstatic about the contribution of £500,000 from the PFA to the Reposm Sporting Housing Trust.

Reposm Trust chairman Mike Soper said the PFA’s pledge of £500,000 is ‘phenomenal news’

‘The recognition of our charity by one of the UK’s leading sports associations is wonderful in helping the cause of housing ex-sportspeople who have fallen on hard times.

‘We still need much more help in achieving our goal of building our first scheme and really hope that more people from the sporting community will and help us.

‘My great thanks to the Daily Mail for all their support in promoting this worthy undertaking.

‘It really gave us the impetus we needed and galvanised the whole project.

‘Unfortunately, there are a lot of former sportspeople in distress in need of this sort of help.’

It is not a direct response from the PFA to the demands for the provision of dementia care for former footballers, an issue raised once again after the death of Nobby Stiles, hero of England’s World Cup win in 1966. 

Stiles died on Friday at the age of 78, having lived for years with Alzheimer’s and his former Manchester United team-mate Alex Stepney urged the PFA and the Premier League to ‘club together and buy a few nursing homes’.

The Reposm project cannot provide specialised medical care on this budget but can deliver a sheltered housing programme with accommodation and common areas.

Sir Alex Ferguson is one famous name throwing his support behind the charity’s initiative 

Soper believes the social element will help fight loneliness, maintain mental health and keep illnesses such as dementia at bay. And it could be developed to include regional bases across the country.

The proposal has the backing of former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and former Prime Minister Sir John Major, and emerged from separate sources within football and cricket.

The £500,000 donation from the PFA is a huge boost but there remains much work ahead for Reposm’s executive consultant Paul Sheldon, a former chief executive of Surrey CCC, who is driving the fundraising programme.

‘This is a brilliant start to our campaign,’ said Sheldon. ‘We look to the whole sporting community, past and present, to get behind this wonderful initiative.’

To support Reposm or make a donation please visit www.reposm.org.uk