Local rivals Bromley and Welling United are joining together to show their support for Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion campaign.

The Kent derby at Hayes Lane on Saturday has been dedicated to Non League Day, a celebration of the semi-professional and amateur game running for its third consecutive year, and the Blue Square Bet South outfits have decided to use this extra exposure to pledge their full backing to the organisation.

The move comes a week before the campaign’s annual One Game, One Community weeks of action initiative gets underway, and will see both teams wearing Kick It Out t-shirts during the warm-up, the organisation’s magazines and stickers being distributed as fans enter the turnstiles, and flagbearers and player escorts leading the two sides out before kick-off.

“Non League football is the cornerstone of the game and an untapped resource in my eyes,” said former Chelsea captain Paul Elliott, a leading Kick It Out ambassador. “In a testing year for football, it’s great to see initiatives such as Non League Day bringing particular focus to this level of the game. Kick It Out is proud to be represented at the fixture between Bromley and Welling.”

Bromley head of club development Jeff Hutton commented: “We are delighted to be welcoming Kick It Out to Hayes Lane for what is our first home fixture on Non League Day. As much as it’s about promoting our club to supporters who may not have experienced Non League football before, it’s also a great opportunity to raise awareness of organisations such as Kick It Out, whose work and message reaches those from the Premier League all the way through to grassroots football.”

Welling general manager Barry Hobbins added: “The Wings are fully supportive of Kick It Out and its work. The organisation has campaigned tirelessly over the years to tackle all forms of discrimination and our club is looking forward to displaying its backing during the Non League Day fixture with Bromley.”