CHELSEA are inviting fans to come and watch the first team train at Stamford Bridge on Monday, December 19, in an initiatve to help raise money for under-privileged children in the capital.

Tickets for the event are available now through Chelseafc.com and are free of charge, but when reserving tickets, fans will be asked to make a discretionary donation to Help A Capital Child - to help disadvantaged children in London over Christmas and beyond.

There are a limited number of tickets available for the event, with a maximum of four per person, and fans are being warned that no autographs can be signed for logistical reasons.

But it will be the perfect opportunity for fans to see Andre Villas-Boas and the players up close, meet Stamford the Lion and have a fun family day out, while helping raise money for the one in three young people living below the poverty line in London.

Stamford Bridge’s West Stand will open its gates from 9am with the training session set to begin at 10.30pm. There will be entertainment outside the ground all morning, with coaching from the Chelsea Foundation and a Santa’s Grotto inside the Chelsea Museum.

There will also be Help A Capital Child bucket collectors outside the stadium, while 50 children from HACC projects have been invited by the charity to watch training from the press box.

Chelsea favourite Frank Lampard (pictured) said: “There’s always a great atmosphere when we hold open training for the fans, it’s brilliant to see how much support we get.

“The fans are always behind us and open training is a great opportunity for them to see the team in a way they normally wouldn’t. Doing it at Stamford Bridge in front of the fans that watch us play week-in, week-out is always special. I hope there will be a great turn out and it should be a lot of fun.”

Dalton Leong, Managing Director of Help a Capital Child, said: “We are delighted and extremely grateful that Chelsea’s Fan Open Day is raising money for Help a Capital Child.

“Many disadvantaged children and young people in our city are facing a Christmas without presents, without love and without a roof over their heads.

“Donations made by fans on December 19 will help us to improve the lives of these forgotten children, not just on Christmas Day, but every day.”

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