Steven Naismith gives away more Everton match tickets

Sky Sports News HQ's Fraser Dainton reports on a second ticket giveaway launched by generous Everton striker Steven Naismith...

It's not every day you see a Premier League star turn up at a Job Centre, but then Steven Naismith is no ordinary player.

Having come from a working class background in Glasgow, he's fully appreciative of how hard life can be, and what a privileged position he is now in. 

Last year, he decided to give something back - 72 Everton tickets, to be precise - all paid for from his own pocket. They were dished out to people who, through no fault of their own, found themselves out of work. He hoped it might give them a bit of encouragement. 

The Scotsman told Sky Sports: "For me, it's easy to do, getting access to Goodison - it's my place of work. It's helping people who deserve it, people who have had a few knocks.

"It gives them a good day out at the football, and hopefully they see a good performance and a win for Everton.

"It's about helping them and keeping their spirits up, so they can keep that drive to go and find some sort of employment. Speaking to some of the people that did it, they've said it made a big difference. That's been the No 1 goal here. It's about helping people, keeping their morale up and helping them get back in to work."

A year on from launching the scheme, it's been a huge success. The feedback has been extremely positive, and Naismith is delighted to be playing some part in changing people's lives. He's back at Toxteth Job Centre to give out the first batch of this season's tickets. 

He continued: "Everybody that went enjoyed it. So many of them now have moved in to full time or part time employment, those are the sorts of results we want to be hearing about.

"On the flip side, when you speak to people who used to go to Goodison years ago, and they haven't been able to go  in recent times, they talk about the history and the players they used to watch. It means you learn about the club and it's history. So I'm winning out of the situation as well."

Chris Midgely is one of the lucky recipients, looking forward to seeing the Blues take on Manchester City on Sunday, and he said: "I think it's a fantastic gesture.

"For someone like Steven to take time out of his busy schedule and give fans who may not have the opportunity to go to games - like me - is fantastic. It gives you a boost, a bit more confidence to go out there and try harder to look for work."  

This certainly isn't Naismith's only charitable venture. He spends time working with homeless projects in Liverpool and in Glasgow, where he's also launched a scheme to help injured service personnel get back in to mainstream employment.

As well as all that, he's an ambassador for Dyslexia Scotland - a condition he struggled with at school.  

He added: "I'm fortunate that I've got a job that's really just a hobby. It's turned into a fantastic opportunity and job for me - with that comes an amount of attention that Premier League players get, and it's a platform you can speak to millions and millions of people, raising awareness for different things.

"If I can do that in any small way, it's worth it. I think if I retire, and I hadn't done it, I'd look back and think it was a wasted opportunity, and I could have helped a lot of people."