Creating Chances with the Premier League
Lord Coe, Chairman of the British Olympic Association and architect of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has hailed the positive work done by Premier League clubs, in their communities, particularly with respect to sports participation. Manchester United’s community delivery in this context is carried out by the Foundation.
Writing the foreword for the Premier League Creating Chances 2012 report, released on Thursday 21st March 2013, Lord Coe said: “The Premier League is to be applauded for ensuring that thousands of young people will get their opportunity to participate in sport. For years the Premier League has been delivering in the area of sports participation and they, like me, are heartened to see that in 2012 this issue moved higher up the agenda for Government.”
Lord Coe went on to elaborate on the breadth of community work that Creating Chances projects cover: “It's not just about sport. In this document are some powerful examples of partnership having an impact on young people in these shores and afar: Kickz with the police, Premier Skills with the British Council, Reading Stars with the National Literacy Trust, over 80 community projects are funded by the Premier League Professional Footballers’ Association Community Fund. Professional football is now a recognised best practice provider of social development.”
Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “The Premier League, like most sports bodies, is not a recent convert to the power of our players, clubs and activities to engage. The focus on sport during 2012 has put the role and ability of organisations like us to deliver across a range of areas right back in the centre of the political debate and the public’s mind. We are proud of the facilities being built and the practitioners whose drive and professionalism is making a real difference to thousands of young people from all backgrounds throughout the country.
“Our clubs have a tremendous track-record in terms of investment and delivery in this area with huge amounts of money and resources historically flowing into projects like Kickz and Premier League 4 Sport. It is something we, and they, can only do because of the success and strength of the Premier League as a competition. So the clubs’ commitment to ensuring we remain a vibrant and compelling elite football competition is critical to their ability to deliver the breadth and depth of community work detailed in the Creating Chances Report.”
Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson said: “The Premier League’s Creating Chances programme has been doing fantastic work in clubs’ local communities for years. As well as helping to increase opportunities for young people to get involved in football it has helped deliver on social inclusion, education and career development. I hope the programme goes from strength to strength in the years ahead.”
The 64-page report details the work that the Premier League clubs deliver at the heart of their communities in five key areas: community cohesion, sport participation, health, education and international. Every club that played in the Premier League in 2012 is featured and they tell their story about the difference football is making to local communities.
Over the past year, 843 club projects have been active under the Creating Chances banner, engaging 541,750 individuals in the process. These people attended 4.14million times – an average of 7.6 attendances per individual.
The highest level engagement is amongst under-18s, who make up 89% of Creating Chances participants. 34% of those engaged are female while 25% are black or minority ethnic. Premier League clubs are valued by partners and government as community hubs: every £1 of our funding attracts £3 of match funding.
For more information please contact the Premier League Press Office on 020 7864 9190 or go to www.premierleague.com