News
More Than Football – Amazing Partnerships
Tue 27th March 2018
As part of More Than Football Action Week we are celebrating the Foundation’s ability to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals, families and communities. Today, we are highlighting our charity partnerships, which have been a cornerstone of our work since the Foundation was created in 2002 and have resulted in dozens of amazing charitable projects becoming a reality.
This season, we’re working with eight different organisations and will celebrate the 10th anniversary of our partnership with Unicef, having achieved some amazing milestones with the world’s leading children’s charity over the last decade. Some of the partnership’s most notable highlights include funding 1 million vaccines for vulnerable children around the world and making a significant contribution to the health and education of children via projects in India, West Africa and across the globe.
This season the Foundation is supporting Unicef’s Children’s Emergency Fund for a second year, helping Unicef to respond to emergency situations around the world as they emerge wherever children are in danger.
The Foundation also has a special long standing partnership with Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. We donate £10,000 each season and arranges for the Rangers First Team to visit the wards at Christmas time and for the under 17 and under 20s to help put up decorations on the wards to spread some festive cheer.
The Foundation continues to support our Armed Forces and this season has made donations to three services related charities – the Coming Home Centre in Govan, Erskine and AA Veterans Support in Northern Ireland. Erskine recently opened a new Activity Centre to engage with veterans who are living independently in the local area and the Foundation is supporting this new service with a donation towards equipment for the Centre.
Scottish Autism is the Foundation’s National Partner for season 2017/18 and we’re working together to help those diagnosed with autism lead full and enriched lives and become valuable members of their communities.
The Foundation has pledged to raise £20,000 to help pay for the charity’s advice line and to create a social area in its new residential service Founders House. The Advice Line is a crucial source of help and advice to individuals and families who have received a diagnosis of autism and are often in crisis.
Recently, the Foundation donated over £20,000 to both the Simon Community Scotland and Glasgow City Mission, who both work to tackle homelessness in Glasgow. The donations were made following the third annual Big Ibrox Sleep Outs which saw fans raise money by sleeping out in the cold overnight at Ibrox Stadium at the end of 2017.
The donations are funding two innovative new projects – an outreach team called Street Cycles staffed by volunteers on bicycles who can travel throughout the city – and Housing First – a new scheme which provides housing for some of the city’s most vulnerable and hardest to reach people who have been caught up in the destructive cycle of homelessness.
With over £4.7 million to date donated to charities and worthwhile projects in cash and in-kind support, Rangers fans can feel very proud of the work their Foundation carries out in their name.
We strongly believe that football is much more than just a game – it can be life changing for so many people. More Than Football Action Week is a unique European-wide movement that celebrates what football can achieve off the pitch and the positive impact we can have on our communities. Find out about #MoreThanFootball here.
