Liverpool FC Foundation joins Right To Play in a global partnership to transform children’s lives through sport and play

Liverpool FC Foundation and Right To Play have teamed up to launch a global partnership to provide vulnerable children around the world with the tools and skills they need to overcome the impacts of poverty, conflict and disease.

The multi-year partnership will see the club’s official charity working with Right To Play, a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children and young people by harnessing the power of sport and play.

The partnership brings together two innovators and leaders in the fields of sport and play who will share their insights and expertise to create and implement high-impact programmes that help children rise above adversity and empower them to learn and lead.

This collaboration will focus on improving the quality of education for high-need children around the world, helping them to stay in school, resist exploitation and abuse, to prevent disease and live safer and healthier lives.

Right To Play’s partnership with Liverpool FC Foundation will begin with joint programmes in Anfield and Thailand and will expand to include other countries as the partnership develops.

In Thailand, projects will focus on working with the most vulnerable children living in urban Bangkok, to develop critical life-skills, including leadership, self-confidence, communication and resilience. The programmes will also build and rehabilitate play spaces to ensure safe, accessible areas for young people to play and learn.

At home in Liverpool, the project will build upon the LFC Foundation’s existing Open Goals programme in Anfield, which provides free multi-sport sessions in local parks to help educate and engage young people in the local area. The partnership with Right To Play will enable Open Goals to be delivered in more parks and open spaces in areas of need across the Liverpool City Region, and potentially beyond in the UK.

Matt Parish, Director of Liverpool FC Foundation, said: “As the club’s official charity, our key objectives are focused around improving the lives of children in our home of Liverpool, but also beyond, through the power of sport and play.

“This is why joining together with Right To Play is the perfect partnership for us so that we can take our unique range of programmes to even more deserving children around the world – it is a charity that shares our values and passion for creating life changing opportunities for young people and we’re incredibly excited to get started and see what we can achieve together.”

Kevin Frey, CEO of Right To Play, said: “Right To Play and Liverpool FC Foundation share the same goal – to ensure that every child is protected, educated and empowered to overcome adversity and flourish.

“We are inspired by this partnership, which brings together two organisations that understand the power of sport and play to transform the lives of children living in contexts where it is hardest to be a child. We look forward to joining forces with Liverpool FC Foundation to give every child the chance to rise and thrive.”