Hackney Wick FC have teamed up with Nike London, Avery Dennison, Tottenham Textiles and east London creative agency, HeyBigMan!, to create two of the sharpest football shirts you'll see in 2019. The semi-pro club was founded in 2015 with the mission of challenging London crime and gang culture to make a positive change within the community.
The shirts were a collaboration between the organisations mentioned above, and children and teenagers from the local community in Hackney. Young people who are deemed to be at risk of becoming involved with gangs. The drawings and sketches they contributed can be seen clearly in the fabric of the shirts.
Founded by Bobby Kasanga, a former gang member himself, HWFC is not your regular football club. Run by volunteers, it comprises of 230 active players across 18 teams of differing age groups, with an ethos based on community engagement and uniting the local diverse groups as well as battling peer pressure and tackling gang influences. Hackney Wick FC engage both young people and adults through training, fitness, community projects and football matches; offering educational workshops, sporting opportunities, mentoring and access to work routes – including those already involved in gangs, those on the brink of gang life and those who might not be aware of the associated risks.
The ambition with this shirt project is for Hackney Wick FC to become the symbol of anti youth violence activism in London, and for it to become synonymous with the prospect of a bright and positive future for London’s young people. By wearing the shirt with its HWFC badge, you are taking a stance against the futility of violence, the horror and destructiveness of the world of gangs and its ability to ruin or end the lives of those involved, and shatter their families and destroy their communities.