Charlton men’s first-team goalkeeper Will Mannion visited Teens Unite’s Big Family Kick-Off event at Bluewater recently, in support of young people living with cancer.
The event, which was held at the state-of-the-art Ballerz air dome, was supported by Charlton Athletic Community Trust providing coaching to young people on the day, while Mannion was on hand to both manage and play for a team in a mini tournament to cap off a special afternoon.
Teens Unite provides free activities for teenagers and young adults (aged 13-24) who have experienced cancer, helping them to rebuild confidence, make friends and develop new skills while offering support to their families.
The charity's programmes aim to address the social, emotional and physical impacts of cancer, allowing young people to live positively with and beyond their diagnosis and overcome the challenges they face.
“It’s a great initiative for the Trust and the club to be supporting,” explained Mannion.
“It’s something that’s close to my heart, personally, so it’s great to see the young people have smiles on their faces and just having the chance to be normal kids.
“Being here gives them a community and network around them of people who are going through a similar sort of thing and they can bounce off of each other and get through what’s going on together.”
The Addicks stopper managed a team to victory in the tournament, as well as taking his place between the sticks - his second successive final success after keeping a clean sheet to help Charlton win promotion to League One in the play-off final victory over Leyton Orient in May!
“The standard was good and I picked up a second trophy in two games after Wembley!” he smiled.
“But it was great fun and it was great to see the kids getting stuck in and having a good time.”
Roxanne Lawrance, CEO of Teens Unite added: “The event at Ballerz gave young people the opportunity to enjoy a Sunday with their family to mix and learn some skills from some fantastic coaches and really re-discover their love for physical activity and sport, which is something their cancer diagnosis has got in the way of previously.
“Not only did we have the incredible skills and experience of the coaches from CACT, but they managed to make the activities fully inclusive and accessible which is a really important part of the support that Teens Unite provides.
“They’ve brought passion and enthusiasm and we were really privileged to have Will [Mannion] come along as well which was an extra special silver lining for the young people that were here, so we’re absolutely honoured to have a brand and a football club like Charlton Athletic to lend their support and endorse our work.”
To find out more about TeensUnite, visit teensunite.org.