United for Unicef
Entering its thirteenth year, the relationship between Manchester United and UNICEF is going from strength to strength as we continue to hold the longest running partnership between a charity and a sporting organisation.
In this time, the Club has raised over £2.5 million for UNICEF programmes which has benefited over 2.2 million children worldwide.
In 2011, Manchester United launched a new programme helping disadvantaged children in Senegal, where one child in every eleven dies before their fifth birthday. The project is equipping 35 child survival centres with everything mums and babies need to ensure a child survives their first five years by providing access to essential materials, from Malaria nets to vaccines.
At the beginning of October 2011, Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill visited Senegal to see first-hand the impact that the United for UNICEF project has made. David visited M’bour district health centre, one of the 35 health centres funded by the partnership, and met mothers and their babies who are receiving life-saving treatment.
In July 2012, Sir Alex Ferguson took time out from the pre-season tour to visit UNICEF projects in South Africa to learn about the impact of violence and abuse on the country’s orphans and to call on communities to play an active role in protecting and supporting vulnerable children.
It is thanks to the support of United fans, that the United for UNICEF partnership has been able to reach so many young, vulnerable lives. In April 2011, United for UNICEF saw its first international fundraising tour, with Manchester United Legends Bryan Robson and Andrew Cole taking part in a series of gala dinners in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, raising more than £60,000 for the charity.
The annual United for UNICEF Gala Dinner, held at Old Trafford, and attended by all the first team players, is a real highlight in the partnership calendar. The most recent event in December 2012 raised a record-breaking £166,000 to help support the health centres in Senegal. To read more about the United for UNICEF Gala Dinner please click here.