Bohemians WNL partner with Inner City Helping Homeless Charity

Bohemians have today announced that in their first season in the Women’s National League, the club’s jerseys will feature the logo of the Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) charity.

The ICHH is a volunteer outreach charity that provides practical support to people sleeping on the street in Dublin City. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, ICHH outreach volunteers have been on the streets seven nights a week helping those in need who are sleeping rough across the city.

Each night, the group walk the streets of Dublin from 11pm to the early hours of the morning. They have four walking teams each night in total, two on the Northside of the city and two on the southside.

The ICHH was first founded in November 2013 following a marked increase in the amount of homeless people sleeping rough each night in Dublin city. They provide water, hot drinks, hygiene products and clothing to those in need, as well as advice for those seeking shelter.

Since their foundation, members of the local community have been running soup runs across Dublin, distributing food to those in need. In 2018, the ICHH were awarded the European Parliaments’ ‘European Citizens Prize’ award. The ICHH currently has over 200 volunteers registered and their offices on Amiens St. are open 14 hours a day, five days a week.

ICHH head of communications, Brian McLoughlin, said: "We are delighted to partner up with Bohemians and their women’s team as they take part in the new national league. Homelessness is an issue that needs to be tackled together as it affects everyone and we want to wish the team the best of luck for the upcoming season.”

Bohemians commercial director Daniel Lambert added to those sentiments by saying that "The work done by ICHH throughout the city is invaluable”. "They are a lifeline for the most vulnerable people in our society - those with no place to call home. We are proud as a club to use our name and profile to raise awareness on societal and human rights issues which impact upon us all."

This is not the first time Bohemians have used their position as a football club to raise awareness of deeper issues within Irish society. Earlier this year, the men's team partnered up with Amnesty International to unveil their away kit which featured the caption ‘Refugees Welcome’, featuring an image of a family fleeing war, rather than a traditional shirt sponsor.

On the same jersey, the club also put the phrase ‘Love Football, Hate Racism’ across the collar. The club have also collaborated with MASI [Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland] to highlight the terrible living conditions faced by refugees living in Ireland’s Direct Provision system, a system Amnesty International have labelled “a human rights scandal”.