Walking 2,000 miles to show football's good side

Xavier Wiggins is travelling on foot to every league club in England and Wales to highlight their community work.

A football fan walking to all 92 league football clubs in England and Wales in 92 days is completing the West Midlands leg of his journey.

Xavier Wiggins, 54, from Wimbledon, is travelling on foot to the grounds to raise money for charity and highlight the community work carried out by football clubs.

This week he has visited Coventry City, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Walsall and Wolves, meeting community representatives there and across the nation to learn about the projects in which they are involved.

Schemes include food banks, youth programmes and employment initiatives.

Mr Wiggins said: "I'm doing it to raise the profile of all the great work that football does in communities because it's so easy to get sidetracked.

"Whether it's rising ticket prices, private equity, sports washing or poor behaviour."

Speaking to the BBC at St Andrew's at Knighthead Park, home of Birmingham City FC, Mr Wiggins said: "It's easy to be negative about football.

"But foundations do so much great work, from work with food banks to knife crime, poverty, mental health and Parkinson's."

At Birmingham City, he was told about the club's "Brew with Blues" initiative, which aims to combat loneliness and isolation.

Sally Insley, from Birmingham City's Foundation, said: "We run it from our flagship community hub. It brings members of the community together.

"They have free coffee and cake, the opportunity to socialise and they enjoy reminiscing about the club."

Sally Insley, from Birmingham City's Foundation, said the club's 'Brew with Blues' initiative helps combat loneliness and isolation.

At Walsall, Mr Wiggins learned about the success of the club's back-to-work programme, which has helped more than 100 people, with 60% going on to find employment.

West Bromwich Albion highlighted their pride in supporting people with learning difficulties and disabilities, with more than 30 disability teams now part of their set-up.

After a visit to Wolves, Wrexham is Mr Wiggins' next stop.

He will cover more than 2,000 miles and is aiming to finish at Plymouth in November.

So far, he has raised more than £23,000 for Football for Good – a project that supports community-driven initiatives across the UK.