Arsenal chooses Save the Children as its first global charity partner
Howard Lake | 1 August 2011 | News
Arsenal Football Club has chosen Save the Children to be its first ever global charity partner. It will support the charity on a range of education projects in the UK and overseas.
The partnership was officially introduced to club supporters at this weekend’s Emirates Cup. One of many children to benefit from Save the Children’s Families and Schools Together (FAST) programme was chosen to carry the match ball out onto the pitch ahead of the game between Arsenal and New York Red Bulls.
Through the partnership Arsenal will support the FAST programme and the charity’s Eat, Sleep, Learn, Play! (ESLP) initiative.
Arsenal will run fundraising activities such as the dedicated Matchday and ‘Be a Gunner. Be a Runner’ scheme, together with additional activities supporting community work in the UK and overseas. The Club will also continue to back Save the Children’s disaster relief work, having made donations to the Japan Appeal and more recently, the charity’s East Africa Appeal to support the millions of children facing starvation in the region.
Justin Forsyth, Chief Executive of Save the Children said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be joining with Arsenal Football club on this exciting new partnership. With our combined local and global reach we can make a huge difference to children’s lives in the UK and overseas. Indeed, it seems that everywhere I travel children tell me they support Arsenal!”
Arsenal’s Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis said: “We have a tradition on and off the pitch of bringing the best out of young people and know the Arsenal badge can open the door to youngsters who may otherwise not be reached. By working with Save the Children we will provide more young people around the world with the skills and opportunities they need to be the best they can.”
The club began partnering with charities in 2003 including ChildLine, The David Rocastle Trust, the Willow Foundation, TreeHouse, Teenage Cancer Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Centrepoint. Since 1992 the Arsenal Charitable Trust has donated over £2 million to hospitals, disability groups, and charities supporting young children and young people. The Arsenal in the Community programme has been running for over 25 years and has generated over 5.5 million hours of volunteering and involved 1 million individuals, across a variety of sporting, charitable, educational and social inclusion projects in London and overseas.
www.savethechildren.org.uk/arsenal
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.