PayPal celebrates ongoing commitment to grassroots football, funding graduate programme led by charity partner, Football Beyond Borders
Following on from the hugely successful ‘Give the Gift of Football’ campaign with Nike in 2019 - which saw PayPal raise £100,000 for Football Beyond Borders (FBB)- we teamed up with the charity again at the end of 2020, with support from the Lionesses, to shine a light on the people in football who truly go above and beyond. The Holiday campaign promoted PayPal’s new Give at Checkout product which allows users to donate to their preferred charity, and raised vital funds for FBB, enabling 14 young people to enrol onto its Participant to CEO graduate programme.
FBB’s flagship programme aims to create opportunities for graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds who are at a significant risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). FBB has identified that 11.5% of young people aged 16-24 are NEET, with this number rising to 13.6% for young people who identify as black or 16% for those from Pakistani backgrounds, making the money raised, and its impact, all the more poignant.
Speaking on behalf of FBB, Communications and Partnerships Manager Kelvyn Quagraine commented “We are committed to developing the next set of inspirational leaders from within the FBB community with a focus on female graduates for our girls programme. We’re very grateful to PayPal for this donation and will use the funds raised to help empower authentic community-based role models with the skills necessary to support their communities through:
- Paid employment at FBB
- Training by Head of Programmes
- Two Accredited Qualifications - Youth work/coaching/counselling
- Mentorship from an external partner”.
This year’s Holiday campaign with The FA, centred around a short emotive film which featured England internationals, Steph Houghton, Fran Kirby, Beth Mead and Ellie Roebuck. The Lionesses reflected on key figures in their life, who have gone the extra mile and helped get them to where they are today. The film then focused on the story of Petal Harty, a young girl who Football Beyond Borders supported during lockdown with a new laptop, which enabled her to take part in an online art programme.
With 2020 being an extremely difficult year for both charities and grassroots football, the money raised through this campaign showcases PayPal’s continued commitment to support all areas of the game, as Offical Partner of The FA.
To find out more about FBB, and the great work they do, click here.
To set FBB as your favourite charity, or donate to FBB through the PayPal Giving Fund, click here.