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South American dream comes true for Dwain
He'll play football on Copacabana Beach
Even for the most affluent young man, a trip to Brazil is a pretty exciting event.
But for Dwain Williams, 25, it's something he never dreamed would happen to him.
The unemployed 25-year-old, who credits Luton homeless charity LAMP with helping him stay on the straight and narrow, will fly off to Rio de Janeiro on September 16 to represent England in the Homeless World Cup.
Dwain, who will be playing in goal for his country, will play on Copacabana Beach against teams of players from 63 other countries around the globe.
And the dream almost didn't become a reality when LAMP thought it might run out of funds to send Dwain and other candidates to the tournament trials.
But the Luton Someries Rotary Club stepped in to help the Napier Road charity, and helped set Dwain, who's also a whizz at basketball, on the road to sporting success.
The former Stopsley High School pupil would love to work in sport, and is hoping the tournament will give him the opportunity to start a coaching degree.
He came into contact with LAMP, which stands for Luton Accommodation & Move-On Project, after having to move out of his mum's home due to overcrowding.
The charity found him shared accommodation, and he started to play football for their team every week at the PlayFootball.net pitches in Stopsley.
It was his key worker, Luke Bland, who put him forward for the Homeless World Cup trials.
He said: "I'd never imagined I would be going to Brazil. It was such a shock to hear I had got through to the team.
"I dread to think where I'd be now if LAMP hadn't helped me. I could have been in a much worse situation."
Dwain has just signed up to play for Luton Old Boys, and has also been approached by Arlesey and Brache Sparta.
And the Homeless World Cup team coaches didn't just choose him based on his physical ability, they were also looking for players with the right sort of personality and the ability to bond with their team-mates.
The tournament gives homeless people the chance to represent their country and change their lives forever and has grown steadily since the first tournament in 2003.
At the last tournament, in 2008 in Melbourne, there were 56 nations involved, and the event saw the first homeless women's tournament take place.
Dwain said: "I'm just going to go out there and try my best and hopefully come back with a trophy.
"But I'm just going to try and gain as much experience as I can, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens."
He said he wanted to thank Luke and everyone at LAMP, Luton Someries Rotary Club, Luton Town Football Club and P&H England for all their help and support in getting him to the tournament.
Karen Rabjohn, fundraising officer at LAMP, said: "We're all incredibly proud of Dwain – it's down to his own hard work that he's got this far."
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Weather for Bedford
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 2 C to 7 C
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