• Ground-breaking joint initiative will tackle key issues facing young people and build a lasting legacy of social change through sport in Abu Dhabi and the UAE
• ‘We share a belief in the potential for sport and physical activity to have a lasting impact on the lives of young men and women’ - says Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan
• ‘We are committed to leaving a legacy from the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards event in Abu Dhabi’ - says Laureus Chairman Edwin Moses

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which uses the positive influence of sport to tackle society’s most pressing challenges worldwide, and the Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, which addresses issues relating to the wellbeing of the community in Abu Dhabi, announces today a groundbreaking partnership to promote and use sport as a positive solution to problems facing young people in the region.

The partnership between the foundations was announced in Abu Dhabi just hours before the 2010 Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony was to take place at the Emirates Palace.

The long term collaboration will launch its first project on March 15 with a Healthy Schools initiative aimed at improving fitness, reducing obesity and helping to boost the self-esteem and emotional well-being of school children. With co-operation from the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), the Healthy Schools initiative involves nutritionists from the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre who will conduct workshops in all pilot schools over an intensive ten-week period. Health and Wellness company Haddins Fitness is also involved with sports physiologists working with children, staff and parents to offer opportunities for activity and healthy life style choices during and after school.

“I am certain that if young people, wherever they are in the world, were given the chance to take part in more regular exercise at school, they would learn about the benefits from an early age and establish new lifestyle patterns that would remain with them for the rest of their lives.”

At the heart of Laureus is its mission to use and promote sport as a powerful mechanism for dealing with some of the world’s toughest social challenges. It currently supports, through funding and strategic guidance, 78 projects around the world that use sport as a means of tackling some of the gravest social, economic and environmental problems facing society today.

Through the Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation will be expanding its project network in the Middle East, where it hopes to build a lasting legacy of social change through sport in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan said; “With the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation we share a belief in the potential for sport and physical activity to have a lasting impact on the lives of young men and women, , and we are thankful for their support and commitment that will undoubtedly benefit the young people of Abu Dhabi.” “We are extremely pleased to have found in our partner, the Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, an organisation whose vision for the young people of Abu Dhabi and the UAE reflects that of the Laureus World Sports Academy. We are committed to leaving a legacy and lasting impact from the annual Laureus World Sports Awards event in Abu Dhabi. Children all over the world are becoming less and less active. They are not only missing out on the physical benefits of sport, but also the mental and emotional well being that it brings,” said Edwin Moses, Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy.

This first phase will reach 75 children between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Phase two will reach 1,265 children in the Pilot schools while other schools are prepared to enter the programme. This coincides with one of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation’s key campaigns this year, focusing on tackling the critical global issue of obesity amongst young people through sport.

Laureus is an organisation that uses sport to bring people together as a force for good. It is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change. Since its inception, Laureus has raised more than €20 million for projects which have helped to improve the lives of over one million young people.

For more information contact:

Mal Thompson
Laureus Global Communications
Tel: +44 (0)20 7514 2863
Fax: +44 (0)20 7514 2837
Email: publicrelations@laureus.com
Photo Archive: www.laureusarchive.com
Website: www.laureus.com
 

We accept Guest Posts

Download the Dubai City Guide iPhone mobile app

DubaiCityGuide.com is owned and managed by Cyber Gear