FA Ambassador Viv Anderson returned from a goodwill mission in FA partner country Malawi and admitted the whole experience had left him 'speechless'

The Football Association supported the work of UK charity Friends of Mulanje Orphans (FOMO) by assisting with the identification of coaching staff, providing kit and equipment and enlisting the help of former England defender Anderson.

FOMO is a community-based programme working through a network of nine centres and its mission is to provide and enhance the health, education, shelter and meet the basic human needs of all orphaned children of Mulanje, a district of Malawi.

FOMO has worked closely with the Manchester and Lancashire FAs in the area of fundraising and awareness raising, and the charity decided to offer some expert football coaching to the children at the centres.

Anderson was joined in Malawi by Abdul Basit, Community Cohesion Officer at Bolton Wanderers, and coach Bret Barrell Harris, with the latter two spending 10 days coaching the youngsters at the orphanages. "It was enlightening to say the least" Anderson told TheFA.com. "I can't put the experience into words really. It was simply unbelievable.

"You don't realise what these kids have to go through every day of their lives.

"FOMO is an excellent charity and I am glad I was able to help out and do a bit of coaching with the children at the orphanage."

The Malawi national team, coached by Englishman Stephen Constantine, took time out of their schedule preparing for regional qualifiers to visit the centre in Mulanje.

Their arrival at the village sparked wild scenes among the children, for whom this was the first opportunity to see their football heroes up close.

FOMO volunteer Dave Armstrong said: "It was an amazing experience. The coaches were great and taught one of our football teams how to run their own coaching sessions for smaller children.

"In one day, 400 children turned up to take part in the football drills while thousands just stood and watched.

"The national team joined in with the children which was great and Viv was excellent in engaging with the youngsters.

"The David James Foundation has also expressed an interest in helping to irrigate a farm in one of the centres so there are many positives to come out of the experience.

"We haven't done anything on this scale before and we are glad that it was a huge success."

ITV Granada covered the visit for a documentary due to be broadcast at 7.30pm on 10 July.

For more information on FOMO's work in Malawi, please click here.