Palace launch £1m drive to transform the life of more South London kids

It is a film depicting Crystal Palace players as you’ve never seen them before.

Eberechi Eze as a barber, Wilf Zaha as an Uber driver and Marc Guehi as a lollipop man.

But behind the jovial nature is a serious message from the team at the Palace for Life Foundation – the official charity of Crystal Palace Football Club.

The video has been made to coincide with the launch of a new fundraising campaign called ‘Made in South London.’

Its aim is to raise to £1million over the next three years to help transform the lives of thousands more disadvantaged young South Londoners – something the Palace for Life Foundation has been doing for more than 25 years.

To launch the campaign, Ben Bailey Smith, also known as actor, comedian and rapper Doc Brown, has written and created a short film that features him bumping into those Palace first-team faces in unfamiliar roles.

The campaigners say the need to help steer young people away from crime is particularly vital in Croydon, which they say had 1,817 violent crimes reported last year, making it the most violent borough in London.

There has been a 60 per cent increase in knife crime in London in the past four years, and just last year 30 teenagers across the city, five of which were in Croydon, lost their lives through violence.

Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze was born and raised in South London and supports the campaign: He said: “I’ve grown up in South London and know there are many people from the area that have so much potential, but don’t always have the opportunities to show it.

“Palace for Life do a great job working with young people in our community, so it’s important they can continue that work as well as raise awareness of the issues young people in South London face.”

Pictured top: Eberechi Eze as the barber and Marc Guehi