West Ham United are delighted to announce their new official principal charity for the 2014/15 season.
Following extensive consultation with Bobby Moore's family, the Club can confirm that a new charitable project entitled the West Ham United Moore Family Foundation is to be launched at this afternoon's fixture with Queens Park Rangers.
Bobby's daughter, Roberta, first approached the Club with the idea of setting up a community scheme in honour of her father last summer and has spent the last 12 months working to develop the exciting new project with West Ham United Community Sports Trust.
Joint-Chairman David Sullivan has kicked off the fundraising efforts by donating a five figure sum and the Club has pledged to commit extensive time and resource to ensure the Foundation serves the legacy of Bobby Moore, the player and the man. The foundation will also fit with the Club's overriding commitment to creating a lasting and meaningful Olympic legacy in the community it serves.
Its delivery will be provided by the Trust's dedicated community sports coaches, making this a programme set up by local people for the local community. The scheme will provide life-changing opportunities for targeted young people and, in memory of the famous No6 shirt Bobby wore during his time at West Ham, will offer a West Ham matchday experience for the 18,000 Year 6 students in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, Thurrock, Brentwood and Basildon over the next three years.
The programme will also seek to inspire 3,600 vulnerable young people through the power of elite sport and there will be football and education experiences at the new Stadium alongside opportunities to sample the West Ham way via six roadshows and football festivals.
Roberta said: "My mother, Tina, and her three grandchildren Freddie, Poppy and Ava, are incredibly excited about the creation of this project, which we hope will make a real difference to lives of young people in the area of the country Bobby loved more than any other.
"He had some key attributes which we were keen for the programme to incorporate. They are respect, hard work, determination, self-discipline, kindness and humility. It's about promoting a way to live your life and to have a better life.
"I'm also really pleased that the programme has a strong link to Diabetes UK, because we're trying to promote healthy lifestyle choices. My brother, Dean, very sadly suffered of diabetes and it was important for us to do this in his memory. I know he would have loved to have been involved with this and he would have been very proud to put his name to it."
This season the Club will also be supporting a new trust set up in the memory of Academy striker Dylan Tombides, who passed away in April 2014 following a long battle with cancer. The Club are working with Dylan's family on the project, the details of which will be announced at the Crystal Palace fixture in February 2015.
In a joint statement Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said: "We are pleased to be able to confirm the details of our two new charity partnerships. They will both fit perfectly with the Club's ethos of harnessing the power of sport to better the lives of deserving people in our local community.
"We got to know Bobby when we employed him as Sports Editor at our newspaper, so we know that there is no better figurehead to offer inspiration to this new foundation. Like us, he cared passionately about East London and was determined to create chances for the young people growing up in the area.
"With our support behind it, we are confident this project will have a hugely positive impact on the lives of hundreds of youngsters."
Vice-Chairman Karren Brady CBE said: "This new charity fits perfectly with the Club's overall ethos and I know it will help the young people in our community through its sport, education and health initiatives.
"Our partnership with Roberta and the Moore Family will provide a wide variety of opportunities for thousands of young people, targeted vulnerable groups and the wider communities.
"As David Sullivan's generous donation shows, everyone from the top of the Club to the bottom is committed to making this project succeed and I am proud that our Community Sports Trust has developed such a unique and innovative programme."
West Ham would also like to pay tribute to the Foundation's key partners, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers' Association, Canary Wharf Group, London City Airport, the London Boroughs of Newham and Barking and Dagenham and Active Essex, whose support is testament to the Foundation's worth to the local community.
The Club will continue to support last season's official principal charities, the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and Richard House Children's Hospice, who will become second-tier partners. Both organisations will continue to benefit from awareness matches and editorial support from the Club.
Following extensive consultation with Bobby Moore's family, the Club can confirm that a new charitable project entitled the West Ham United Moore Family Foundation is to be launched at this afternoon's fixture with Queens Park Rangers.
Bobby's daughter, Roberta, first approached the Club with the idea of setting up a community scheme in honour of her father last summer and has spent the last 12 months working to develop the exciting new project with West Ham United Community Sports Trust.
Joint-Chairman David Sullivan has kicked off the fundraising efforts by donating a five figure sum and the Club has pledged to commit extensive time and resource to ensure the Foundation serves the legacy of Bobby Moore, the player and the man. The foundation will also fit with the Club's overriding commitment to creating a lasting and meaningful Olympic legacy in the community it serves.
Its delivery will be provided by the Trust's dedicated community sports coaches, making this a programme set up by local people for the local community. The scheme will provide life-changing opportunities for targeted young people and, in memory of the famous No6 shirt Bobby wore during his time at West Ham, will offer a West Ham matchday experience for the 18,000 Year 6 students in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, Thurrock, Brentwood and Basildon over the next three years.
The programme will also seek to inspire 3,600 vulnerable young people through the power of elite sport and there will be football and education experiences at the new Stadium alongside opportunities to sample the West Ham way via six roadshows and football festivals.
Roberta said: "My mother, Tina, and her three grandchildren Freddie, Poppy and Ava, are incredibly excited about the creation of this project, which we hope will make a real difference to lives of young people in the area of the country Bobby loved more than any other.
"He had some key attributes which we were keen for the programme to incorporate. They are respect, hard work, determination, self-discipline, kindness and humility. It's about promoting a way to live your life and to have a better life.
"I'm also really pleased that the programme has a strong link to Diabetes UK, because we're trying to promote healthy lifestyle choices. My brother, Dean, very sadly suffered of diabetes and it was important for us to do this in his memory. I know he would have loved to have been involved with this and he would have been very proud to put his name to it."
This season the Club will also be supporting a new trust set up in the memory of Academy striker Dylan Tombides, who passed away in April 2014 following a long battle with cancer. The Club are working with Dylan's family on the project, the details of which will be announced at the Crystal Palace fixture in February 2015.
In a joint statement Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold said: "We are pleased to be able to confirm the details of our two new charity partnerships. They will both fit perfectly with the Club's ethos of harnessing the power of sport to better the lives of deserving people in our local community.
"We got to know Bobby when we employed him as Sports Editor at our newspaper, so we know that there is no better figurehead to offer inspiration to this new foundation. Like us, he cared passionately about East London and was determined to create chances for the young people growing up in the area.
"With our support behind it, we are confident this project will have a hugely positive impact on the lives of hundreds of youngsters."
Vice-Chairman Karren Brady CBE said: "This new charity fits perfectly with the Club's overall ethos and I know it will help the young people in our community through its sport, education and health initiatives.
"Our partnership with Roberta and the Moore Family will provide a wide variety of opportunities for thousands of young people, targeted vulnerable groups and the wider communities.
"As David Sullivan's generous donation shows, everyone from the top of the Club to the bottom is committed to making this project succeed and I am proud that our Community Sports Trust has developed such a unique and innovative programme."
West Ham would also like to pay tribute to the Foundation's key partners, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers' Association, Canary Wharf Group, London City Airport, the London Boroughs of Newham and Barking and Dagenham and Active Essex, whose support is testament to the Foundation's worth to the local community.
The Club will continue to support last season's official principal charities, the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and Richard House Children's Hospice, who will become second-tier partners. Both organisations will continue to benefit from awareness matches and editorial support from the Club.