Preston North End Football Club served up festive joy at The Foxton while looking ahead to the Big PNE Sleep Out event.
The club served up Christmas dinners to Preston’s homeless community and presented the centre with numerous bins containing coats donated by fans of the team.
Cath Coffey, chief executive of The Foxton, told Blog Preston: “Preston North End have always been a big supporter of ours, to host Christmas dinner today is really special to our guys.
“A lot of people are really in awe of football players but it doesn’t make it any different to our homeless people – they really are chuffed that the players have taken the time out of their day to come down to the centre today.”
Read more: Inside The Foxton’s day centre after temperatures drop below zero overnight
In the thick of Preston’s winter, supporting the homeless community is a priority: “It’s really wet and cold on the streets – our clients often say that the cold is one thing, but to live and sleep in a wet sleeping bag is a real challenge,” she said.
The Foxton is a Preston-based charity that supports the homeless community through access to showers, clothing, food – a warm community hub allowing for individuals to receive help.
The centre also supports vulnerable women through sexual health services, domestic abuse support and assistance for modern slavery.
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “The big thing we take away from today is the fact we’ve affected people positively, everyone felt comfortable and it just puts a smile on people’s faces
“The bigger picture is raising awareness to a worthwhile charity that needs a lot of help and support – if we can put the message out there then the more help we can give them.”
Preston North End, along with the Preston Nort End Community and Education Trust, Blog Preston and Veolia, are set to host the Big PNE Sleep Out event in March 2026, in a bid to prevent homelessness in the city and support women and girls who are homeless.
Previous Sleep Out events hosted by the club have seen hundreds of Prestonions come together to raise a combined £150,000 to help tackle homelessness in the city since the first one took place in 2019. The PNE Sleep Out’s are some of the most well supported and attended of any football club’s in the UK who do similar events.
“When Preston North End get behind a local charity, it adds a lot more value to it because ultimately it’s local people that will then offer their support and make it all worthwhile,” Heckingbottom added.
Watch what Hecky and others had to say during the visit in the video below
Fans of the club have been donating coats in an effort to continue their dedicated support to The Foxton.
Preston North End midfielder Alfie Devine attended the centre, alongside his manager and teammates.
He told Blog Preston: “As footballers, we’re in a very privileged position to come to events like these and support our community, I don’t think there is a single player who would ever turn down an opportunity like this.
“It gives us an insight into something that is very different from our day-to-day lives, it shows at Christmas time that some people don’t have the luxuries that quite a lot of other people get so hopefully as a team we can bring awareness to it.”
Registrations to take part in the Big PNE Sleep Out on Friday 27 March 2026 are open and you can sign up via The Foxton’s website. If you’re not able to do the Sleep Out, you can donate to help support those who are going to be sleeping out at Deepdale.
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