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The Rangers Charity Foundation and Rangers FC have been honoured with a prestigious international social responsibility award, thanks to the Foundation’s life-changing work.

Rangers collected the ‘Social Responsibility of a Football Club, Role Model Award’ at the Football Is More’s International CSR Conference in Switzerland yesterday (2^nd October 2019).

The Football is More Role Model Awards recognise “outstanding involvement in educational and social welfare activities” and are presented every two years in Brunnen.

The panel of judges, which included academics from across Europe and CSR experts, were impressed by how the Foundation uses the power of football to help people, noting the comprehensive community programmes on offer for children and adults focusing on health and fitness, employment, equality, diversity and education.

The panel researched and examined the effectiveness of various clubs’ programmes, looking for examples of best-practice and vibrancy throughout the organisations, before selecting Rangers as the winner of the 2019 award.

Previous winners of the award include Chelsea, Benfica and Real Madrid, as well as the 2017 winner Paris Saint-Germain.

Rangers Chairman, Dave King, said: “We are delighted to win this prestigious European-wide award for the incredible work the Rangers Charity Foundation does every day in the name of Rangers FC and our supporters.

“The Foundation thrives on the backing of the fans and brings everyone associated with the club together to achieve tangible benefits for people in need locally, across Scotland and beyond, thanks to our international partnership with Unicef, the world’s leading children’s charity.”

“Personally, I am very proud to see the Foundation recognised in this way for its outstanding work in the community and would like to congratulate them on behalf of everyone at the club.”

Rangers Charity Foundation Director, Connal Cochrane, added: “This is fantastic news for the Rangers Charity Foundation!  The diversity and scale of the work undertaken by the Foundation, by what is a relatively small team, is remarkable and I believe is exemplified by our strategic approach, as well as the skill and commitment of our staff.

“Football’s ability to become a tool for engaging people in our communities and help them transform their lives for the better is incredible. Receiving such an award from Football is More is a real honour and I hope it will shine a light on what I believe is a real treasure in our society, not just at Rangers and in Scotland but more widely across Europe.”

“I hope everyone associated with the Club and Foundation can feel proud of this special recognition.”  

CEO and Founder of the Football is More Foundation, Hanspeter Rothmund, said: “Following our research across Europe, I visited the Rangers Charity Foundation in Glasgow and was extremely impressed by the work which is delivered in the city and beyond – the team is dedicated to making a genuine and lasting impact.

“I returned to tell my colleagues and the judging panel about the work of the Foundation and we are absolutely certain that Rangers is the worthy winner of our Role Model Award. Congratulations!”

This season, the Rangers Charity Foundation is delivering 25 diverse community programmes, reaching 10,500 people, as well as working with key charity partners to raise funds for their work and help promote their cause.  

Since its launch in 2002, the Foundation has donated over £2 million in cash awards and over £3.3 million of in-kind support to hundreds of charities, groups and individuals, making a combined total of over £5.4 million.

The Foundation also makes the dreams of sick and disabled supporters come true by arranging special days out at matches and to the Hummel Training Centre for fans in need of a boost.