Charlton Athletic Community Trust has been presented with a cheque for £106,000 at their most recent game.

Oxleas NHS Chief Executive, Matthew Trainer, presented Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) with the cheque on the pitch before Charlton’s recent home game at The Valley, for the Up & At 'Em and Early Intervention projects that they run with Oxleas.

Up & At ‘Em is for those aged 65+ and is designed to help reduce social isolation and enhance participants’ physical health and mental wellbeing through activities within the community including cricket, pottery creation, painting and theatre visits.

Participants are able to socially interact with others on a weekly basis while taking part in fun activities.

Matthew said: ”CACT do a brilliant job within our community. You often find those aged 65+ can be overlooked, coupled with the loneliness that many older people experience, this creates a real downward spiral.

"The work that we do with CACT makes a big difference to the lives of many older people who might otherwise feel very isolated. I'm really pleased to be able to support Up & At 'Em to continue."

John, who is an Up & At 'Em participant and has been coming to the Valley since the 1940s, was also at the presentation. After the match, he said: "I love it, I feel so much better after I've been along each week, it really lifts me and I can't thank these people enough!"

Carl Krauhaus, CACT's Head of Early Help & Prevention, said: "CACT’s Early Help and Prevention strand working in partnership with Oxleas NHS has always been so positive and this funding means we'll be able to continue to deliver weekly activities for older people to help them with confidence and self-esteem, reduce isolation and open up further opportunities.”

In 2017 and 2018, Up & At ‘Em was Highly Commended at the Positive Practice in Mental Health awards and won a national award at this year's event.