Tranmere Rovers captain Kane Hemmings has been awarded the Club’s PFA Community Champion award.
The PFA Community Champion Awards highlight players who have made their work with communities and good causes central to their role as a professional footballer.
Kane has gone above and beyond in various projects for the local community this season, as well as being named an official ambassador by local partner charity, The Martin Gallier Project, for his work around mental health.
Kane’s dedication to suicide prevention has been described as ‘inspirational’ by officials from the charity. He opened up about his own personal struggles in an interview with the charity for World Mental Health Day earlier this year, and in his position as a role model, hopes that doing so will inspire other people to feel empowered to speak out.
Kane donated a shirt to our 135-shirt display in the Kop on World Suicide Prevention Day to demonstrate the number of people who will take their life during a 90-minute football game according to World Health Organisation statistics, as well as speaking out again in an interview about how he got through his own struggles. When Kane scored in the match, he celebrated by pointing to the shirt in the Kop, which he had put there in memory of a loved one.
In addition, while helping us deliver food hampers to those in need in the local community, Kane spoke out publicly about how much such schemes can help people in need during the cost-of-living crisis.
Kane also joined us at several local schools this year, including presenting the trophy to EFL Kids Cup local finals winners St John’s Catholic Primary School, where he also sat with the team and spoke to them about steps to take to follow in his footsteps in becoming a professional footballer.
When he attended our Show Racism the Red Card workshop, he went above and beyond by choosing to stay for the entire workshop and presenting the awards to the children for their anti-discrimination posters.
On receiving the award, Kane said: “It’s nice to be recognised. It’s a part which I quite enjoy doing so I’ve tried to make myself available whenever I can.”
You can watch the full interview with Kane on our YouTube channel here: