Employability Focus Day of the Action Weeks
With today’s Action Week Focus Day being on football based Employability programmes and working towards Sustainable Development Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, it’s the ideal time to share the recently agreed co-funded programme between a partner of the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks, UEFA Foundation for Children, and FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.
The co-funded community project will use football as a tool to attract and engage young adults in employability programs. A charitable grant, awarded under community investment platform FedEx Cares and matched by UEFA Foundation for Children, will build the capacity of local sports organisations to structure and deliver football-based employability programs in their communities.
The project will be overseen by global non-profit streetfootballworld and delivered on the ground by network member organisations in four locations – Policy Centre for Roma and Minorities (Romania), the Oltalom Sport Association (Hungary) and Sport Against Racism (Ireland) and Sport 4 Life (UK).
“Due to its universal popularity, football gives community organisations a wide reach and provides a common platform to engage with young people who face challenging circumstances,” said Dr. Vladimir Borkovic, director, streetfootballworld. “This program will equip sports organisations with the tools to guide young people who are furthest from the job market into education, training and, ultimately, sustainable employment.”
The program includes personal development workshops that aim to promote self-confidence and job-seeking skills and training that offer an overview of the local job market and how to gain access to it. Finally, the programs will provide access to training opportunities, formal qualifications, and job placements that present an opportunity to secure sustainable employment.
“FedEx Express is eager to make the most of the possibilities we have, as a sponsor, to deliver positive impact in communities touched by professional tournaments,” said Brenda McWilliams-Piatek, vice president, Marketing Operations, FedEx Express Europe.
“We’ve worked closely with the UEFA Foundation for Children to shape a football-based employability program that we hope will deliver a tangible benefit in communities where employability of young adults is a pressing challenge.”
“This new phase in our collaboration perfectly balances our own focus area of children’s rights – the right to an education, the right to play – and combines this with FedEx Express’ interest in employability,” said Urs Kluser, UEFA Foundation for Children.
“We’re equally excited to see how football can be used in the context of employability, opening up increased opportunities for young people who may not see an obvious path to employment.”
FedEx Express has collaborated on community projects with the UEFA Foundation for Children since becoming a sponsor of the UEFA Europa League in 2015.
Examples of Employability programmes from Clubs
Football clubs are also doing some great work when it comes to promoting and supporting people to get into or back into the job market. Last week at the 12th EFDN #Morethanfootball Conference in London, Rangers FC’s Charity Arm, Rangers Charity Foundation presented on their employability programmes targetted at the hard to reach including their programmes Ready4Employment, Get Started with Rangers and their Programme of Wider Achievement.
At the same Conference, Swedish club Malmö FF discussed their Careeracademy initiative which is currently being scaled across Sweden and sees the club working together with external partners from the public and private sector organising matchmaking events between unemployed and potential employers. Hibernian FC in Scotland also presented on their Young Volunteer & ViP Programmes aimed at supporting young people to develop leadership skills including organisation, communication and teamwork as well as increasing their confidence and self-esteem to prepare them for entering the job market.
When talking about volunteering, Olympique Marseille’s OM Fondation’s volunteering programme “#OM Volontariat”deserves a mention, providing volunteering opportunities to take on their office hours to support the cause of their choice in partnership with local associations with activities ranging from homework support in a community centre to renovation work in the park of an underprivileged neighbourhood.
There are many many more example of football clubs using football to promote employabilty and contribute towards Sustainable Development Goal 8, again proving that football reall is #Morethanfootball.
