#Morethanfootball Action Day – Partnerships

#Morethanfootball Action Day – Partnerships

Today the EFDN is celebrating its 7th birthday having been officially founded on the 1st of April 2014. Starting out as a collaboration of a few likeminded clubs with similar ideas on tackling social issues through football and aiming to share knowledge and best practice of their CSR programmes, EFDN has evolved into where we are today, with more than 100 member clubs, leagues, FAs and is still growing. 

We would like to celebrate this birthday together with all members and #Morethanfootball Action Weeks participants. Watch our 100th club member video and have a look at some best practices highlighting the importance of partnerships. Clubs, leagues and FAs can get involved and sign up for our upcoming 15th EFDN Conference.

EFDN Interview with Karin Heri

The EFDN Interviews with CSR experts of our members don’t just focus on the strengths of the club or foundation in question but also interesting and inspiring recommendations for other football organisations and why clubs are #Morethanfootball. In our latest EFDN Interview, Karin Heri shares Malmö FFs SDG strategy and highlights the importance of partnerships.

PAOK Action

PAOK Action teamed up with Kaizen Gaming this year to donate technological equipment to the “Melissa” orphanage in Panorama, Thessaloniki. Distant learning has become so important to the children’s lives in the last nine months which has drastically changed the educational process. That is why the partners decided to offer technological equipment to the children of the orphanage this year, in order to make it easier for them to attend their classes.

Saints Foundation

Southampton Football Club’s Main Club Partner, Sportsbet.io, has donated their shirt sponsorship and up to £10,000 to Saints Foundation for the Easter Sunday clash against Burnley, helping to raise awareness and vital funds for the club’s charity.

Saints Foundation’s logo will be displayed across the first team’s shirts during the match at St Mary’s on Sunday 4th April, with the match worn shirts then being auctioned off to raise further money to support the work Saints Foundation carry out in the local community.

Saints Foundation are asking fans to show their support during the charity matchday by making a £10 donation to the charity in place of the money they would usually spend on a match ticket. 

Dundee FC in the Community

Dundee FC in the Community Trust announced a partnership to focus and promote Mental Health and well-being via initiatives including educational workshops, group discussions, physical activities and when required specialist counselling offered by Back Onside.

Ferencvárosi TC

Ferencvárosi Torna Club has for many years enforced the fight against exclusion and the education of young people to be sporty as a priority. They are promoting this even further by joining the World Fair Play Day (WFPD). Initiatives of Ferencvárosi TC regarding fair play include the Fradi Fair Play Award and the Fradi School Programme.

Show Racism the Red Card

Opponents on the pitch, but partners in the fight for respect, equality and diversity. In February, AEK Athens FC and Asteras Tripolis FC showed racism the red card before the kick-off of their game. The game between the Greek clubs that play in the Super League Interwetten ended in a 2-2 draw. Both teams took a stand against racism by joining our European-wide anti-racism campaign. The awareness-raising campaign, or the Red Card campaign, consists of disseminating our Red Cards in 27 languages to professional and grassroots clubs all over Europe. By taking pictures and videos of players with the Red Card, clubs take a stand against racism. The cards are free to download from our website. Currently, there are more than 60 clubs, both professional and grassroots, participating in the campaign.

Chelsea FC Foundation

Chelsea FC Foundation is proud to support the small businesses in London that have continued to push the city forwards through the pandemic. Small businesses need support now more than ever. The foundation is honoured to offer free advertising space across its social channels for the remainder of the season.As a way of showing how ‘Proud of London’ The Pride of London are, they have launched a campaign to help support local businesses get back to their feet following the punishing impact of the global pandemic by inviting small businesses with a London postcode to apply for free advertising space on matchdays, including a branded Instagram Story. With a digital community of hundreds of millions of people around the world, small London companies will gain exposure like never before via this valuable advertising space that is usually only available to sponsorship partners or businesses buying one of our digital collaborations.

Feyenoord and Sophia Children’s Hospital

A Feyenoord corner opened in the Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam. The spot is meant to give all children in the hospital the real Feyenoord feeling during their stay. “From now on, we will be with the children every day,” said Ton Strooband, Manager of Social Affairs at Feyenoord.

Red and white on the packed stands, Feyenoord shirts, the helicopter circling above Feyenoord‘s stadium De Kuip and Justin Bijlow and Marcos Senesi on the wall. The brand new Feyenoord corner in the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children’s Hospital represents Feyenoord in every way. From now on, children can take pictures here and feel like they are at De Kuip again for a day.