Jersey 2 Africa 4 Football – a programme founded by former Jersey FA president Ricky Weir in 2013 – has partnered with ethical football manufacturer Alive and Kicking (AK) and The Football Foundation for Africa (FFA) to provide Covid-19 and mental-health education to thousands of young people in deprived Kenyan communities.
The three-way partnership has provided sports coaches in Kenya with access to training materials and a set of educational footballs, specifically designed to feature key World Health Organisation messaging, including the practices which help young people return to their communities safely.
So far 220 footballs, all sponsored by various companies, have been distributed to nine recipients across the African nation.
Once completed, J2A will have distributed 460 footballs, creating over 120,000 hours of educational play for over 20,000 people.
Weir said: ‘Adopting the Bounce Back campaign in partnership with Alive and Kicking has enabled us to support them through a difficult economic period and arranging these footballs on one hand has given the joy and happiness that any new football would for a young kid, while at the same time providing an educational message both on the dangers and preventative measures to help combat the impact of Covid-19 within their local communities.’
The nine beneficiaries include schools and academies, mostly in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, who have been donated either 20 or 40 footballs produced by AK.
Weir said they are grateful to the businesses and individuals who have supported the initiative and backed it financially.
He added: ‘I am also tremendously appreciative and grateful for our team on the ground in Kenya, principally George Opiyo and Steve Ndungu, for making it happen in terms of collection and distribution of the footballs and without whose generous input and involvement this campaign would simply not have been feasible.’
Allan Wood, co-director of the campaign and head of business development at Jersey Finance, has been responsible for linking local finance companies to the campaign.
Wood said the campaign has given the opportunity for finance companies to give back to the country they operate in.
‘The support from financial services on the Island has really allowed us to amplify Ricky’s message and all the good work he has been doing,’ he explained.
Both Wood and Weir have travelled to Kenya in the past to put on football festivals in local communities. Due to Covid-19 they were unable to do so in 2020 but Wood believes this has been the next best alternative.
He added: ‘The idea has really helped compliment our Island’s ties to Kenya and it has been an amazing way of supporting communities over there without being able to travel there.’
