Visit from Orient stars is a (care) home win in Ilford
LEYTON ORIENT players were top of the league with residents at Jewish Care’s Vi and John Rubens home in Ilford during a visit that has become a Mitzvah Day tradition.
Scott Kashket — whose great-grandmother Tilly Stern lives in the home — and club captain Nathan Clarke spent an hour chatting to residents and carers in what was the fifth annual visit for the East London side.
Mrs Stern said it was “lovely” to see her great grandson: “I am very pleased he managed to get to do what he loves and I understand that he is quite good. It’s wonderful for everybody when players come here. It gives them something else to talk about.”
Mr Kashket, an attacking midfielder who at 19 is just breaking into Orient’s first team, said: “I try to visit her as much as I can obviously. I don’t like saying goodbye to her!”
With Leyton Orient sitting close to the relegation zone, the club’s poor start to the season was on many of the residents’ minds, particularly 101-year-old Leslie Richmond.
Mr Richmond, who has followed the team for nearly nine decades told Mr Clarke: “Last year, you were fifth from top. This year, you’re fifth from bottom. You won’t go down, will you?”
The O’s captain took it in good spirits, and said later: “It’s a close group of fans that we’ve got at Orient, and it’s nice for us to meet them, especially at places like this where they can’t really come out and watch us any more.”
He went on to say of the care home: “It’s very valuable to the community, and it’s good to see all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.”