Everton in the Community takes centre stage for Leicester City matchday at Goodison Park

As Everton prepares to take on Leicester City this Saturday (1 February), the club will turn the spotlight on its official charity.

Everton in the Community (EitC), is celebrating its 37th birthday with a packed schedule of events at Goodison Park.

The special EitC-themed matchday is part of a season-long tribute to the club’s final year at Goodison before the move to the new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Following the success of Retro Day at the recent win over Spurs, this latest themed fixture will honour EitC’s vital work across Merseyside—and Evertonians are being urged to show their support.

As ever, EitC relies on the generosity of donations for their ongoing life-changing and life-saving work across the region.

Fundraisers and volunteers will therefore be around Goodison ahead of kick-off, asking fans to ‘Be Sound, Bring a Pound’ and drop it into the easily identifiable collection buckets.

The families of 11 lucky junior fans have also helped to swell the coffers by paying for an exclusive matchday experience, which will see the youngsters walk-out with the players at kick-off.

Outside Goodison, EitC staff will take to the Fanzone stage to elaborate on the wide-ranging programmes being run across the community.

An example of one of these life-saving programmes is a Breathlessness Hub – a free, walk-in blood pressure check. Run in conjunction with Astrazenica, the EitC programme is England’s first heart and lunch screening hub.

The simple and non-intrusive blood pressure test measures the force of blood moving through the arteries and if left untreated can lead to serious health issues like heart attacks, strokes and other complications.  

The free blood pressure test is taking place at The People’s Hub between 1pm and 2:40pm.

Next door to the People’s Place, the charity’s Cruyff Court will host an earlier edition of Everton v Leicester City, with participants from both Clubs’ Premier League Kicks programmes playing against each other in a one-off friendly before the Premier League clash at Goodison Park gets underway.

Meanwhile, the Katumba Samba Band will be entertaining supporters with a street parade from 2pm, complete with colourful flags and banners and accompanied by bucket collectors.

They will then provide a colourful spectacle inside Goodison in the build-up to the game, with a special performance and flags being waved around an EitC-themed centre circle banner for the players’ entrance.

The 1878s will have a flag and banner display in the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street. In keeping with the mood, the 1878s have included a special EitC ‘forever’ banner in recognition of the charity’s commitment to remaining in L4 after the playing side of the Club has relocated to Everton Stadium.  

At half time, EitC will again reiterate its vital services, in conjunction with the Premier League’s More Than A Game campaign, by recognising and honouring a Community Champion.

Two volunteers from EitC will also take part in a special half time game of ‘Hit The Bar’.

And there will be more opportunities, post-match, for supporters to contribute to the Club’s official charity, with fans able to bid on the shirts worn by the Everton players in the game.

The auction will go live after kick-off, here.

Guests who are dining in the hospitality lounges this weekend will be able to bid on a number of exclusive items, with all profits heading back into the charity’s life-saving work, while the Club’s catering partner, Sodexo, will be offering supporters the chance to add a donation to EitC at the end of their bill.

Established in 1988, Everton in the Community has been providing a lifeline to those most in need across Liverpool City Region for more than three decades, helping to create brighter futures and stronger communities through its innovative and impactful delivery.

You can help support EitC’s life-changing work in Liverpool 4 and beyond through a wide variety of ways including traditional fundraising, playing Everton Lotteries, and aligning your business with the charity or making a one-off donation.

To make a donation, ‘Text FOREVER to 70970 to donate £5.’

More info on Everton in the Community here.

Find the latest news across Liverpool here.