So Swansea City has it’s own top Dogg now, after rap icon Snoop Dogg was revealed to be the latest mega high profile to take a stake in the club. Of course ATFV has a top Dog of its own in the furry squat shape of mascot mutt Vetch the Dog – and so how could I resist bringing these two together to bring a little joy to poorly children?
I’ll confess I don’t know a great deal about Snoop Dogg and I’m not one of is 89 MILLION Instagram followers – hey, I’m well over fifty, so cut me some slack here! – but even I know that he has a global profile far in excess of anyone else that’s been attached to our football club, including Luka Modric.
His involvement brings so much opportunity for our club on the commercial side but that in itself will bring a certain type of pressure for Richard Morris and his commercial team. Can Richard and his team behind the scenes capitalise on the flashy, larger than life cultural icon? I think so, fo’ shizzle.
But I’ve stolen in like a Border Collie swiping the last piece of your pizza from the box to grab an opportunity too…
I was on a phone call with Lisa from the Children’s Wards in Morriston Hospital discussing some opportunities for ATFV to help out with a small pot of money, and one of the things Lisa said really stuck with me: the wards are desperate for small gifts, even such things as cans of deodrant, that they can give to the children as ‘bravery awards’ after they’ve had treatment such as blood tests.
I asked Lisa if some funny stickers would work and she said that they would be brilliant – and so I immediately thought about pairing Snoop with Vetch for a bravery award that is simply the dog’s bollo…really good!
An initial batch of 50 stickers have been posted off, along with a further 100 featuring Vetch on his own – and if these truly work and make a difference then we’ll keep the wards stocked with stickers of all different types, maybe building up a stock of very different images so that the staff can choose one to suit the child they are rewarding.
This is small, easy stuff that ATFV can do (and I don’t know why I didn’t put things in place to make this happen earlier? My bad…), but we are also working on some bigger stuff for more impactful support. I hope to make an announcement on that soon.
Of all the causes that ATFV has become involved with over the years, this is the one that means the most to me.
In fact, when it comes to supporting Morriston Hospital and the children’s services they provide, you could say…