Global sport for development community launches Sport for Good Response Fund
The global sporting community's efforts to protect vulnerable children and young people in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic has been boosted by the creation of the ‘Sport for Good Response Fund’. The fund will unite the support of a wide range of partners to help support organisations and young people as part of sport’s role in ending violence, discrimination and disadvantage around the world.
Sport may be on pause, but the need for the disadvantaged and often vulnerable young people in more than 200 programmes Laureus supports around the world and the wider Sport for Development sector has never been greater. Through the Sport for Good Response Fund, organisations will be empowered deliver new or adaptive provision to continue supporting children and young people during the current pandemic.
The Fund will also offer financial support to the sports-based development programmes at the heart of communities around the world so that they can withstand the challenges of this immediate stage and help build stronger young people once restrictions are lifted.
The fund launches today with grant funding and in-kind support already committed by partners including Laureus Sport for Good, Comic Relief US, LA84 Foundation, Hong Kong Rugby Union Community Foundation and Beyond Sport Foundation. These organisations are collectively calling on the wider sporting industry to join us in uniting the sporting world to raise further funds to support the amazing sport for development and community sports organisations that care for millions of children around the world.
Laureus Sport for Good partners, and any organisation around the world using sport to deliver development outcomes, can apply for a grant of up to €10,000 at https://www.laureus.com/responsefund to deliver new ways of supporting children and young people in changing circumstances. Funds can also be used to help strengthen organisations to ensure they can continue supporting young people going forward.
Co-creation of the Sport for Good Response Fund is the latest in a number of actions Laureus Sport for Good has taken to assist the more than 200 programmes it supports globally, including 1:1 conversations with grantees to asses challenges and offer support where possible. Laureus have also been hosting weekly online forums in the Americas, EMEA and APAC, focusing on uniting programmes, sharing knowledge and learnings and helping to ensure the disadvantaged youth in Laureus programmes have the support they need.
Over the last 20 years, Laureus Sport for Good has raised more than €150m for the Sport for Development sector, reaching and helping change the lives of almost 6 million children and young people since 2000. Laureus Sport for Good currently supports more than 200 programmes in over 40 countries that use the power of sport to transform lives.
Edwin Moses, Chairman of Laureus Sport for Good, said: “Over the last 20 years, we have taken our Founding Patron Nelson Mandela’s words and put them into action, using sport to instil hope, unite people and bring about social change. In the unprecedented times we are living in, the role of sport in society is as important as ever and the Sport for Good Response Fund will help us to continue supporting hundreds of thousands of young people through sport as we all continue to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic.”
