Liverpool Football Club is proud to announce it has been awarded a CommunityMark, the national standard of excellence in community investment for 2009. Business in the Community (BITC) announced nine new CommunityMark achievers for this year, including BSkyB, Cadbury UK, EDF Energy, John Laing plc, Linklaters, Microsoft UK, The Midcounties Cooperative and Allsignsgroup.
Liverpool was included after a host of successful community programmes including Truth4Youth, Tactics 4 Families, Kickz, Reduc@te, Action for Health and Healthy Stadia.
BITC has also been impressed with the club's partnership with Liverpool City Council and community organisations in regenerating parts of Anfield such as Stanley Park and the Isla Gladstone Conservatory.
LFC commercial director Ian Ayre said: "I'm delighted Liverpool Football Club has been recognised for its commitments to the local area with the CommunityMark.
"Our community activities enable us to make a positive difference to the lives of others in and around Liverpool and to have our efforts acknowledged in this way is fantastic. It is a great achievement for everyone involved at the club."
Council leader Warren Bradley added: "The City Council is delighted that LFC should be recognised in such a positive way.
"We have been working in partnership with the club and a number of local organisations and groups for over eight years in the development of Anfield and Breckfield.
"This has already delivered major projects such as the Stanley Park restoration project and the refurbishment of the Anfield Youth Club, attracting national and international visitors and bringing media attention to the area, but more importantly bringing immense value and greatly improved facilities to the residents of Anfield, Everton and the surrounding areas."
The CommunityMark was launched in 2008 and endorsed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and HRH Prince of Wales.
To achieve the CommunityMark, companies are assessed according to five principles of community investment. A total of 29 firms have now been recognised.
Catherine Sermon from BITC said: "The CommunityMark achievers for 2009 are leading brands in their respective sectors that have collectively invested over £40 million in their communities.
"This reinforces the fact that excellence in community investment not only has a positive and valuable impact on society, but translates to real business benefits."
Truth4Youth Our community department visits all the schools throughout Merseyside giving assemblies. Community staff reached over 12,000 children last year. Topics covered include the harmful effects of drug use, bullying, racism and violence.
Tactics 4 Families Our Tactics 4 Families initiative is aimed at supporting families within the community. Projects include family fun days, parenting support programmes, dads, lads amd lasses football coaching, and mums, daughters and sons sports sessions.
Kickz Kickz aims to engage with young people aged 12-18 years using local ball parks and facilities. All sessions are fully supervised and are delivered in a safe environment. All coaches are FA qualified, hold a First Aid Certificate and have been Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked.
Reduc@te Thousands of children have now enjoyed the opportunity to learn in the exciting and inspirational environment of Liverpool Football Club. Staffed by a centre manager and students from the three universities in Liverpool, Reduc@te aims to help children improve their skills in the key areas of literacy, numeracy and ICT. Staff use the unique environment of LFC to make the educational experience as special as possible and groups are offered learning opportunities in the club shop, the excellent LFC Museum, the Academy and around the Anfield stadium.
Action for Health Action for Health is part of the club's commitment to delivering a better quality of life for local people. There are courses for young women aimed at boosting self-esteem, health events for over 55s, accessible health checks for adults, school campaigns to tackle obesity and more.
Healthy Stadia Since 2005 Liverpool has been at the forefront of a pioneering initiative to promote healthier environments inside football grounds for fans, staff, players and the local community. This includes healthier menus, healthchecks for employees and healthy eating posters. Clubs around Europe now look to Liverpool for inspiration on such matters.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164853090623-1038.htm Fantastic lads. Should be extremely proud of themselves.
