News

Today marks the start of #MoreThanFootball Action Weeks – three weeks devoted to showcasing how the power of football can change lives for the better.

Across Europe, football clubs will be celebrating the work they do off the pitch in their local communities, working with charities, grassroots projects and local people.

The #Morethanfootball Action Weeks, organised by the European Football for Development Network (EFDN), are part of a campaign for the European football community to showcase the impact of their investment in community and social responsibility activities and programmes.

We are delighted to have taken part in this year’s #PassItOn campaign, which encourages people to share stories of why football is #MoreThanFootball to them…

At the Rangers Charity Foundation we are proud to be a force for good on behalf of the Rangers Family, tackling inequalities and creating opportunities for people of all ages to change their lives for the better.

The Foundation focuses on a number of key charity partnerships each season. In 2017/18, it worked with 8 local, national and international charity organisations, donating £113,000 over the course of the season, as well as helping them to engage with Rangers supporters.

New for 2018/19 is the Foundation’s National Partnership with Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland. The Foundation has pledged to raise £20,000 to help support the charity’s Advice Line and Rehabilitation Support Volunteers.

As well as partnerships, the Foundation assists other charitable causes and helps individual fundraisers support causes close to their heart. Last season, it delivered £230,000 worth of in-kind support by donating items including signed shirts, balls, tickets and Stadium tours. Since its creation in 2002, the Rangers Charity Foundation has donated over £1,955,000 of cash awards and over £3,200,000 of in-kind support, making a combined total of £5,161,007.44.

The Foundation also supports various community initiatives, such as arranging a matchday collection for the Glasgow South West Foodbank and Crookston Community Group Foodbank and distributing match tickets to people in need of special day out, such as veterans, carers, those affected by homelessness, community groups and other good causes via its Ticket for Good scheme.

The Foundation now proudly delivers 25 programmes in the Glasgow area, connected to health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, education and employability, which together reach more than 6,000 people.

Current community programmes include the hugely successful Football Fans in Training initiative which helps fans improve their fitness levels, lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. Funded by the SPFL Trust and supported by Scottish Government, the most recent 12-week course saw a mix of 67 men and women lose an incredible 52 stone 9lbs between them and a combined 457cm disappeared from their waist lines.

Diversity and Inclusion is a growing priority for the Foundation, and this area of work has seen the successful launch of a new programme. Diversity Wins, which was the first of its kind in Scotland, aims to education primary school children about anti-sectarianism and the LGBT+ community, and is currently being delivered with 12 schools, with a view to expand.

In 2018, the Foundation also launched a new ‘Hub in the Community’ at Govan High School. The impactful project positions a full time Hub Officer in the school, to deliver a wide variety of programmes and provide a permanent physical (non-teacher) presence and constant familiar point of contact for staff, pupils and their families.

Keep an eye on our website and follow #Morethanfootball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as we, and other foundations across Europe, share stories of our amazing work over the next three weeks.