[INTERNATIONAL] BARNES LAUNCHES ETHIOPIA CHARITY CAMPAIGN
Thursday 27 Mar 2008
Ex-England footballer John Barnes has launched a football-based charitable campaign aimed at providing football based amenities into Ethiopia.
The Liverpool legend is working on a humanitarian mission to improve football facilities in Africa called Score Ethiopia.
Barnes explained: "The campaign aims to help promote football in the poorest countries and build better facilities, as well as getting water to the communities and giving local people training and start-up loans to get better jobs."
Campaign
The campaign was conceived when UK based volunteer, Mairead MacBeath, won a full adult Sunday league team kit in a competition. On witnessing Ethiopians' passion for football first hand during her time there, she decided to send the kit to the town of Lalibela, where she had recently been working.
Barnes travelled to Lalibela, a historic town in the north of Ethiopia to launch a fundraising campaign for a new football stadium, complete with goal posts, corner flags, kits, clean water facilities and a seating arena.
Currently, the town's children play football with balls made from rolled-up clothes and their makeshift pitches are dust fields.
Enrich
Jamaican-born Barnes said: "I travelled to Lalibela to understand what football means to these children. I have been all over Africa and Ethiopia is my favourite country because the people are so friendly."
"We all associate it with famine but I want to show that there is so much more going on here.
"If we can help to raise £25k it will mean so much. You can't give kids a football pitch when they can't afford to eat but this project will help enrich their daily lives too.
"I have always known how powerful a weapon football can be to get people involved.
Football gives people in countries like Ethiopia hope, enjoyment and respite from their daily lives."
To get involved, you can help by donating:
Phone - 0800 317 109 [free phone number. Callers charged 65p administration on top of donation]
Text - 'score' to 82085 to donate £1 plus standard network rate
Online - To find out more visit linkethiopia.org/score
By post - cheques payable to Score Ethiopia, 4 Orchard Mews, Islington, London, N1 5BS, England
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30th May-1st June 2008
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Rashid Bhayat
"Football? It's our vehicle because, for most of us, it's our passion."
Rashid Bhayat, Coventry Positive Futures project