The UK is one of the world’s largest economies. However, it is also a country where the divide between the rich and the poor is growing greater by the day, and it is the poor who are suffering the most. In 1990, the UK’s richest one per cent owned seventeen per cent of the national wealth. By 2005 it was 25 per cent. It was during this time that the Labour government introduced tax and regulatory changes that benefitted the rich, who accumulated even more wealth.
Since the Conservatives have taken power, many cuts have occurred in government spending and funding; affecting the poorest in the country. The widening disparity in wealth helped to cause resentment, which manifested itself in the form of growing violence and the riots which took place in cities across England in 2011.
As youth centres are closed down, benefits decreased, and the country becomes increasingly unequal, an unlikely set of allies have stepped in to help those suffering the most; footballers and football clubs.
Footballers in this country get a lot of bad press and are often embroiled in scandals. But what about the players and clubs who have stepped in to help those in need? This aspect of football has gone unnoticed.
Reading Football Club is one of the clubs tackling issues in their local community. One of the schemes they are involved in is the Kickz project, which works in disadvantaged areas across the country to create safer, stronger communities through the development of young people’s potential. They are also involved in the Sportiv8 scheme; a course for young people who are currently not in education, employment or training, with candidates working towards a variety of qualifications in the sports industry. Reading Football Club also run the Duke of Edinburgh award which involves working in prisons and delivering educational and physical workshops on topics such as sexual health and combatting knife crime.
Arsenal Football club runs similar schemes, one of which is the Estates Double Clubs, which works with the local housing estates near the Emirates stadium. The scheme provides a space for local children to get help with their homework and provide a supportive learning environment for them to improve academically.
Football players are also getting involved. Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand’s experiences of living in Peckham inspired him to create the Rio Ferdinand Live the Dream Foundation in December 2009. The aim of the foundation was to nurture and develop young people from deprived communities seeking careers in sports and entertainment.
The Manchester City and Belgium captain Vincent Kompany is currently in talks about striking a partnership with a football team from his home city of Brussels, Belgium. Kompany wants to make third division club Bleid Molenbeek an academy for deprived children. He also wants to make Bleid a feeder club for the Belgian national champions Anderlecht, which will bring many opportunities to the people of Brussels.
The ex-Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt set up the Dirk Kuyt foundation to help disadvantaged children in The Netherlands and in Third World countries. Another ex- Liverpool player, Craig Bellamy, created the Craig Bellamy Foundation for disadvantaged children in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He has also invested his own money in creating a not-for-profit football academy in Kono region. Furthermore, working alongside UNICEF, Bellamy has helped to create a national league in Sierra Leone, when the country’s top flight league had been disrupted due to a lack of funds.
The ex-Chelsea player Didier Drogba is also known for his charity work in Africa. He donated his endorsement fee from Pepsi for the construction of a hospital in his hometown of Abidjan, Sierra Leone. His motivation was to ensure local people had basic healthcare and higher life expectancy. Drogba is also the creator of the Didier Drogba Foundation.
Some people may be thinking that footballers and football clubs should be expected to do this type of work due to the massive wealth they acquire, but it is nevertheless clear that they are trying hard and making a lot of progress. It could even be argued they are making up for the broken promises of governments in the UK and across the world. Don’t be surprised if in the future we see footballers and football clubs bailing out the many companies around the world that are in administration or due to close down. It would be a reflection of the sad times we are living in.
About the Author
