Football for Hope centre opens
ALEXANDRA - The Football for Hope centre will finally open in Alexandra, three years after the Fifa World Cup 2010 was held in South Africa.
More than three years after the closure of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the event continues to deliver a lasting legacy to the country and the entire African continent.
Next week will mark an important milestone in this process, with two key events due to take place. One being the official opening of a Football For Hope Centre in Alexandra, bringing closer the completion of the ’20 Centres for 2010′ campaign, the official campaign of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.
The aim of the campaign was to create, in co-operation with local organisations, 20 centres for education, public health and football across the African continent, as part of the legacy projects in Africa for its hosting of the first World Cup.
The Alexandra Football for Hope Centre will be run by the organisation, Grassroot Soccer (GRS), will focus on the education of young people about HIV/Aids, and empower them with the knowledge to live HIV-free. Representatives from the 20 centres in all corners of Africa will be present at the opening ceremony on 12 November, after which they will attend a three-day capacity-building workshop.
The second key legacy initiative of the World Cup was the 2010 World Cup Legacy Trust, which was set up so that South African football and NGOs dealing with community development through football, can continue to be recipients of the Fifa World Cup’s financial reward on a long-term basis.
In total, R450 million was transferred by Fifa into the trust, and the first projects were awarded in January this year. On 13 November, the board of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust will meet for the fourth time. It will review the reports on activities of grants issued during the first phase of the disbursement of funds for the period March 2013 to February 2014, and consider the challenges and successes encountered.
It will also consider areas that are to be funded during the second allocation of funds to the football community, as well as NGO’s that use football for community development, discuss the budget allocation for the period 2014/2015, and announce the opening and closing dates for the new application phase, as well as set the parameters for the call for proposals.
