Philanthropy in football used to be looked at with cynicism and in the past many players were accused of trying to detract attention from misdemeanours by making extravagant gestures to gain good press. Fortunately this trend has all but been abolished, but philanthropy in football is stronger than ever. The large salaries and huge revenue that players and franchises generate allow them to easily give something back and a variety of extremely worthy causes have benefited from the benevolent actions of footballers.
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Children’s charities a popular choice
Many football franchises have elected to partnership with charities that support children, either in illness, education or other areas that require assistance. Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspurs have all created their own foundations that aid various children’s charities and Aston Villa FC has partnered with Acorns Children’s Hospice since 2006. Aston Villa’s association with Acorn began when it originally provided a financial donation that covered the urgent costs of 77 days of hospice care at the beleaguered Selly Oak Hospice and from this initiative, the support from team members and fans grew from strength to strength. Today, Aston Villa helps provide care and support for each of the 2,000-plus children in Acorns care.
Acorns Chief Executive David Studley is exceptionally grateful for the ongoing support shown by Aston Villa FC and has acknowledged that the franchise brand has been instrumental in keeping Acorns afloat during some rough financial times. It’s precisely this sort of support that a football franchise can offer a charity that makes it so valuable and there’s hope that an increasing trend in the support of children’s charities is a part of the future of football.
Foundations a basis of philanthropy
David Beckham and Niall Quinn are both footballers who have donated large sums of money to charity in their personal capacity. Most recently, David Beckham donated his £3.4m Paris Saint-Germain earnings to the charity arm of the Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris and although a media storm originally surrounded this donation, it eventually transpired that the delay in Beckham paying his earnings across was due to a tax deal being worked out to ensure the hospital would benefit as much as possible.
Another footballer who went one step further and created his own charity is Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy. Bellamy created the Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leon, a charity that offers children the chance to achieve their full potential through education and sport via a football academy and youth league.
Bellamy was inspired to aid the war-torn African country on a trip to Sierra Leon and he put £1.4m of his own money into creating the only professional football academy. Tim Kellow, CEO of the foundation, has been instrumental in helping to grow Bellamy’s dream and since its inception in 2008, Kellow has been at the helm of the foundation that has helped hundreds of children of all ages.
Football and philanthropy now go hand in hand and charities are better off for the connection. Thankfully the stigma of the past whereby a charitable donation was seen as ‘courting good publicity to cover bad’ has been abolished, and there is a vast amount of good that is achieved thanks to the contributions from football stars, teams, franchises and fans.
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