And our money's on....

Andrews of Morden get the ball rolling 

...Pudsey Bear in the case of Andrew's Estate Agents in Morden!  


Manager Adam has donated £50 to Home Start Merton in the hopes that Pudsey Bear will romp in ahead of other rival agents in the AFC Wimbledon Diamond Jubilee Mascot race on Saturday 2nd June


 Adam was first out of the blocks when it came to picking a potential winner and helping struggling young families in Merton. Although Pudsey may not be the fastest mascot around he's probably the best known and we were happy to pick up Andrew's donation on behalf of the charity

Mascots - The Final Hurdle (And Some Trophies)

With only a few weeks to go before the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and with the Home Start Merton charity donation website nearly up and running (fingers crossed...),the mascot season is almost upon us!

Thanks to the kind generosity of the Womble Underground Press, we already have a splendid WUP Cup for our annual open race on Wimbledon Common, but they've come up trumps again for the one off Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Mascot Hurdles. I've also finished the last couple of hurdles for the race so I thought I might share them with you before the big day

To the front we have the WUP Cup, currently held by Merton Road Safety's Debra the Zebra. At the back we have the two trophies for the Jubilee race. One for the race winner and one for the mascot who attracts the most support in donations

Here they are in front of two more obstacles. The one at the front is a series of insulating foam tubes - more intimidating than tricky really, as long as the mascots don't trip over the base. To the rear we have the slalom boards that the mascots will have to dodge around

The £1 shops are a real source of cheap decoration at the moment. For the Diamond Jubilee race there will be plenty of red, white and blue bunting around as well as these fetching car window flags

So here are three different types of obstacle, all kitted out in their  race day finery. I just hope it doesn't rain...

Of Mascots & Hurdles

With two AFC Wimbledon Mascot races scheduled for this year - our annual WUP race on Wimbledon Common in October as well as our Diamond Jubilee special at the Mitcham Carnival - I thought it was about time we took a step up in the quality of the hurdles facing the mascots.  Last years race consisted entirely of straw bales and although they are a fine obstacle they are a bit bulky and slightly too heavy to move around easily. It also turned out that one of last years entrants was unable to scale them so we had to leave a gap between the bales, which most of the other mascots then promptly used!


I'd also like to get a little more AFC Wimbledon branding involved as well so spectators know just exactly who they are watching and cheering on and also a bit more variety in the hurdles. The mascots are pretty limited in what they can jump or clamber over so I wanted to make any jumps at least appear challenging, even if they could be ploughed through safely by any determined mascot or one who's a little more visually challenged than the others!


So, being a cheapskate and an avid viewer of Blue Peter in my youth, I've been assembling some jumps out of various bits and pieces I've acquired over the last few months, including these, my bog-standard basic AFC Wimbledon hurdles, arranged in two banks of four . Although there are a couple of other non-hurdle obstacles in the pipeline I thought I might as well provide a sneak preview of what's in store and how some of them came to be

First, take some discarded Estate Agent boards - lightweight, easy to bend and with a plain white back. They are glued down the sides but a sharp knife splits them easily. Some of the plastic fittings are useful as well.

Cut a template in a suitable bit of hardboard and use any left over black spray paint lurking in the back of the shed to  get the outline. I'm using a stick to try to squash the template down a bit in order to get a reasonable line, but you don't need to be too precious

Zinc 82 was a waste of time as it wasn't black paint at all!  Still you can see the basic outline is coming out OK, although I'd attached these ones to their bases already which didn't make it any easier

This particular boards have a nice semi-circle at the top which will make them a bit trickier for the mascots who'll probably go for the lower gaps either side. (Note dead womble in the background caught by a late frost)

The red beaks and eyes are then drawn by hand and painted in. I tried to cut a  template to include the beaks but it was too fiddly and prone to snapping but to be honest I think they look fine from a distance. The base is an old IKEA bed slat which conveniently has a holes in each end. On race day they'll be pinned in place by a metal skewer strong enough to stop the wind blowing it over but not a problem if some mascot can't quite clear it

In overnight to finish drying. A sight to send a chill down the spine of any self respecting racing mascot. I have been thinking of spelling out something by putting a letter in each semi-circle. They'll be in a row of four so A_F_C_W  and  D_O_N_S seem to be the best bet. Or I might just leave them blank

Version two is the plain square board scored, folded and nailed to the base. Slightly easier for the mascots to clear. These hurdles will be the basic type but there will also be a few speciality hurdles to clear as well...

I call this one 'The Wall' and it consists of a stack of plastic sections built up to a satisfyingly intimidating height. Unless there are any gazelles taking part I expect this one to come tumbling down

'The Devil's Broom' is an unusual right angled obstacle which will have edged the runners into a fairly small and tricky angled jump. The white panels will probably be painted in a suitable AFC Wimbledon stylee...

'The Garden Fence' is another straightforward jump, but slightly higher  than most, so mascots will have to keep their eyes peeled. Adorned with the yellow and blue this will probably be placed in the middle of the course

'The Bamboo Curtain' is still under construction but it is one of the widest of the jumps, so will probably be at the beginning of the course when the mascots are still bunched

The 'Leap of Danger' is a simple lightweight beam that shouldn't cause too many problems

Marie's Programme Article

As an idle fellow, there's nothing more attractive than having an article in the programme that I can just scan and put into the community blog. This one appeared for our last game of the season against Shrewsbury Town and gave some background to Marie's run, which had taken place a couple of weeks beforehand. However I wouldn't want anyone to miss it so here it is in all its technicolor glory...

Showtime with the Big Blast Band!

Saturday 24th March 2012. AFC Wimbledon are at home to Burton Albion and the Big Blast Band are gathering for the finale of their project...

I had arrived at Kingsmeadow with a car full of useful bits and pieces. Extension cables, spare Wimbledon shirts, tape, clips... you name it, I had some, just in case. At least I knew I wasn't going to be alone when I spotted Andy and some of the High Path crew in the car-park, shortly followed by Elisabeth from the Merton Music Foundation and John Merriman from the Crown Lane Recording Studios. Wayne, our drummer for the day, didn't look his usual smiling self though and it seems that he'd been offered the chance of a party instead of playing live at the stadium and it had obviously been a huge tussle for him to make up his mind! He was here though and everyone else was arriving as planned. Time to set it all up...

Our intention had been to have everyone in the Main Stand for the first half and for the participants  to make their way to the disabled section in the Tempest for our half time slot. This was going to be tight as the Under 10s were due to be presented on the pitch as well, but we thought we could fit it all in OK. Then we had a bit of a surprise. It seemed that the 1962 Cup Winners squad were also going to be on the pitch at half time as well and worse than that, the stewards were looking slightly concerned and anxious as we started to set up drums and cabling alongside the toilet block. Where were the goals going to go after the warm up? What exactly were we intending to do with the cabling? Did we know there were FA inspectors in the ground today? Was it possible for those with mobility issues to get down the far end of the Main Stand and into place in time? And did we know that the radio mike range didn't reach to the Tempest End? 

At times like this your heart sinks and the prospect of ignominious failure looms large in the imagination, so all you can do then is rely on the goodwill of all around you to see it through. The Stewards did everything they could to help us, when it would have been easier to say 'No'; the St John's Ambulance team rallied around with suggestions for setting up the electrics into their hut in such a way as to not cause a safety hazard; we gently ousted the usual inhabitants of the Disabled section who very gallantly used the space by the tea-bar and camped there for the entirety of the game, returning our tickets for some lucky people to get some late returns in the Main Stand. Chris in the Office provided us with some shirts, we put up our Big Blast Band flag, asked Philo to give us an introduction at half time and sank back exhausted before the game had even begun!

We had the junior team behind us and they very gallantly took their bow before the game started, freeing up the half time period somewhat. We all sat with djembe drums to the fore with a rising sense of excitement and waited for half-time to arrive...

There we were, Wayne on drums, massed djembes, electric guitar, Elisabeth on Keyboards and John ready to lead us all. A tense and nervous period as half time came closer. Then we were off! I had to get to the press area to pick up the radio mike, take it back and pray that it was in range - otherwise we'd be sunk! 

I had to say a few words off the cuff and was dismayed when nothing came out...but then the mike burst into life and with a great deal of haste I finished off and shoved it toward John who was going to wave it in our general direction as we were singing and hope it could pick up something.

We had been practicing for ten weeks, and it was only on the last session or two that we had run through the final version. It had been fine in the practice room, but in a huge stadium, live and with high excitement levels, we almost missed the first chorus! The group found a simple chant the easiest thing to manage so it was that combined with some enthusiastic tub-thumping that was supposed to take us into the rousing chorus when we would stand to sing the chorus of We Are Wimbledon, complete with Makaton signing for those that couldn't cope with the required vocalisation! We were a bit slow first time out though and it took longer helping some to their feet than we had thought but you know, I don't think anyone really minded - certainly not Warren, Robert or Ian who were around me. And certainly not Josh whose special job was to shout loudly during each chorus! 

Much to our surprise we were not only being filmed by a very expensive looking camera but cheered on by Haydon as well. We finished with a final crash of drums and, to our relief, some very enthusiastic applause!

This was a marvellous occasion for all of us, but the project as a whole was a valuable learning experience as well. We were working closely with the Merton Music Foundation and their director Elisabeth Wigley. Her experience of working with both disabilities and music was invaluable and she persuaded us to involve John Merriman of the Crown Lane Recording Studio, another inspired move! So we had four partners on the organisational side when you included the staff at High Path. However we all worked together very effectively with everyone bringing something to the project.

Although the intention was always to climax the project with a live performance it soon became clear that John would need to provide a backing track for the event and this required time in the studios, another great experience that everyone enjoyed. This also led onto the playing and recording of short riffs and the possibility of providing a souvenir CD for the participants. This in turn enabled us to involve the graphics group at High Path to design the CD cover and then, in an enormous leap of faith, the offer by Cherry Red Records to release the CD as an iTunes download, available to the public. 


The suggestion that having a couple of players come down to the vocal recording session might be a nice touch for the participants then turned into the slightly jaw-dropping realisation that ten first team players were stopping by after a morning’s training! The small recording studio was soon packed out and the party of visiting school children from Hillcross Primary were led away in disbelief shouting out “Its AFC Wimbledon, It’s AFC Wimbledon!” as their teachers hurried them out of the exit. There was at least one Dons supporter there as he recognised Jack Midson and Luke Moore straight away!

Could it get any better for the project? Well yes it could as it happens. The Big Blast Band was shortlisted as one of Merton’s Volunteer Project’s of the Year and I was honoured to receive a certificate from the mayor at the Civic Centre. and to top that off there will be a small display about the project in the Civic Centre itself over the next week or so. A successful climax to our largest, highest profile and most ambitious community project to date.

And that expensive looking camera by the pitch? It seems it was the True Volunteer Foundation filming a history of Wimbledon Sport and it seems the Big Blast Band are featuring in the closing scenes of a documentary that's being distributed free to every school in Merton. Fame at last!

Big Blast Band at the Civic Centre

If you happen to be in Morden over the next couple of days you might be tempted to pop into the foyer of the Civic Centre and if you do you'll find a small AFC Wimbledon display by the desk.

It's a summary of the Big Blast Band project, along with the flag we used on the day and it's there until the end of the week when it's then due to be packed up and moved on to the Chaucer Centre on Canterbury Road, home of the Merton Music Foundation. It'll grace the walls of the Chaucer Centre - which is Merton's main training venue for a variety of organizations, including schools, the council and outside organisations - for a few more weeks so, with a bit of luck, it may both raise awareness and also prepare the ground for other ventures across the borough!

Wimbledon Chase Primary and the Stadium School @ AFC Wimbledon

Last Wednesday was a big day for the Community Team. 


11:30am saw us watching the carpark for the immanent arrival of a Merton Community Transport mini-bus which (we hoped!) had stopped at Wimbledon Chase Primary School to collect our visitors. Thirteen pupils and two members of staff were on their way to sample the delights of a mathematics-based day with AFC Wimbledon which we hoped would be both fun and instructive!


Jim had set up the back bar for us and we had hung flags on both sides of the room-divider in preparation. Not just decoration, they were also to form part of the first activity...

Yellow team's table with Crewe programme, pencil and flagged clipboard

To our relief (and pretty much bang on time) the Merton Community Transport mini-bus turned up and before we knew it a crocodile of excited faces were filing into the bar. They made their way to the seats on the side of the room and after some basic introductions we had our very own FA Cup draw as each pupil came up to find which team they would be on, Yellow or Blues. Once they drew their counters they made their way over to their team table to bet by their managers; Ms Wilson was manager of the Blues, ably assisted by Eileen Samuelson as her chief coach. Ms Morris was manager of the Yellows, less ably assisted by myself as her right-hand man (when I wasn't doing something else!).

Five minutes before arrival - Team tables are all in place!

First exercise - To get everyone's minds working and focused, the first activity of the day was an observation test. Everyone had five minutes to look around inspecting the school flags on display. After time was up they returned to their team tables and the flags were pinned up to remove temptation and I asked the teams ten questions -one of which was 'On the Dundonald school flag, what was the womble standing on?' (can you work out the answer?)

Although  they recorded their own answers they had to agree a consensus and feed their team answers back to their manager. Answers were provided and Blues won by 7 to 6. In keeping with the event, Blue team were awarded the first goal of the day 

1 - 0 to the Blues!

Second activity - We used the projector and a prepared powerpoint for our next activity, which was based on a league table of games between four London teams; Chelsea, Millwall, Fulham and Wimbledon. Three rounds of games with three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. We followed their fortunes through three weeks of exciting games and at the end..... well revealing the winners might well spoil the surprise!

This activity proved quite a challenge and by the time we had worked through it we were ready for our packed lunch.

Getting to grips with league tables. Possibly harder than times tables!

Lunch  It was a lovely day, so we took advantage of the laptop rests in the press area of the Main Stand to eat our lunch which was very nice. Having finished, we returned to the back bar and all gathered around to watch last season's nerve-racking Luton penalty shoot-out, which doesn't get much easier to watch how ever often you see it! By the time it was all over the children certainly knew who Seb Brown was and were all ready for our third exercise. But first....

Yellows rule OK?

...Phil stopped by for a special treat!

Taking time off of work, Phil opened up the main control room for us to go up and have a look at all the cameras and to hear what is involved in making sure everyone is kept safe on a matchday. He also answered questions and gave us a tour of his room!

Phil going through his matchday process

 After we left Phil it was back to the player's entrance and then on to the players' changing room, after diverting firstly through the physio room with it's model skeleton and (no doubt well-used) model of a knee!
 Third activity  Into the changing room where we had a look around and then split up to have a go at the problems associated with each player. How many goals has Jack Midson scored in all competitions? Exactly how much dried fruit does Gareth Gwillim eat at half time (and why does he not eat his prunes?), how many songs can Sammy Moore listen to on his iPod in the time it takes him to get changed? All these and more were to be revealed. The questions are all laminated so with luck we can build up a range of problems of all levels of complexity over time.

The strikers end of the room, with Christian Jolley on the left

 We took a show of hands for the answers and at the end it was a tie. One goal each, but that meant the Blues were still in the lead by two goals to one!

Sam and Gareth - possibly a little too much space between them...

Last activity: Time was running out so we started the last activity using the inflatable shooting gallery and the radar gun. Each player had three goes. Firstly a running shot (mph), then a standing shot (mph) and then three shots to beat the keeper. Add them together to produce a score 20mph+12mph+1 goal = 33 points!


Add all the scores together to get a team total and guess what, Yellows won! Goal to Yellows making the final score 2-2 and everyone's honour was satisfied.


We returned to the back bar where everyone collected their things and were presented with a certificate and a handshake. We hadn't had time to do two of the exercises so everyone took their Crewe programme and Ms Wilson took the questions about it to do in class. She also took the simple feedback forms for the pupils to tell us what they enjoyed (or not!) about their day and we'll be collecting them in the near future.


It was a real pleasure  to meet the children and it felt as though they had really enjoyed themselves. We had learnt a lot about timing and levels of complexity for our exercises and we are all looking forward to our next visitors. If you think your school might benefit, why not ask them to contact us. It won't cost them anything and we can tailor the day to their needs!


Many thanks to Eileen, Phil and Jim for all their help and special thanks to Ms Wilson and Morris for taking time out to visit us!