BT helps Johan Cruyff Foundation connect children to a better future

DC13-115 April 24, 2013

BT helps Johan Cruyff Foundation connect children to a better future

BT is extending its partnership with the Johan Cruyff Foundation, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the mental and physical wellbeing of children and young people. BT already invested more than 100,000 in money, time and company resources to support the foundation's work in 2011 and 2012. The extension covers the Benelux countries and is aligned to BT's Better Future strategy. It will focus on the Cruyff Foundation Community Programme , which aims to empower young people to organise their own local sports events. Both parties also have the ambition to open the first Cruyff Court in Mechelen, Belgium in 2013 - providing a safe area for children to play.

Carole Thate, director Johan Cruyff Foundation, said: Over the past two years, BT has helped us with much more than simply donating time and technology. It has given us its full corporate commitment. We don't see it very often that a company is as dedicated as BT. We are very proud to be their partner and hope to continue this cooperation in the years to come.

Edwin Hageman, CEO BT Benelux, continued: Being a responsible and sustainable business leader has always been at the heart of the way we work in BT. It is also, rightly, an integral part of BT's broader strategy to create a better business and a better future. Working with the Johan Cruyff Foundation over the past two years has been a great experience. I am particularly proud of our volunteers; many employees have contributed to the success of the Foundation's activities, or have raised money to make the first Cruyff Court in Belgium a reality. It is therefore a pleasure to renew our partnership with the Johan Cruyff Foundation and to work with them to make a real difference to people's lives.

Till now, more than a hundred BT Benelux employees have supported eight Cruyff Foundation events, including the annual wheelchair sports day and the open day in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam where thousands of children, with and without disabilities, can participate in over thirty different sports activities. Several fundraising events have attracted donations of more than 40.000.

To further support the Cruyff Foundation Community Programme, BT Learning Solutions has built a virtual learning environment called eCorner providing internet access to an e-learning programme, a Coach Corner, and other resources. Youngsters, coaches and community workers are able to share learning safely and cost effectively. Since the launch of the platform in 2011, 63 coaches and 315 youngsters have been trained. The Community Programme aims to empower young people between fourteen and eighteen years old to organise local sports events at the Cruyff Courts to the benefit of their own community.

As part of today's agreement, BT will upgrade the e-learning solution to support the Foundation's international ambitions with the Community Programme and continue to provide support through BT Compute, a cloud-based virtual data centre service, which is hosting the platform. BT will also provide the Foundation's employees with access to some of its telepresence facilities to easily collaborate with partners and government officials, whilst at the same time save time, money and reduce the organisation's environmental footprint.

There are already 160 Cruyff Courts' worldwide, mostly located in the Netherlands. There are also Cruyff Courts located in England, Spain, Morocco, South Africa, Israel and Brazil, with Belgium to be added in 2013.

The Community Programme has been in place since 2007. Until today, 900 children have already organised events to the benefit of their community.

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About the Johan Cruyff Foundation

The Johan Cruyff Foundation was established in 1997, building on Johan Cruyffs vision of the fundamental right of children to sport and play . By promoting sports and play, the Cruyff Foundation contributes to a better society in a positive and active way. The Johan Cruyff Foundation brings youth in motion and does so by supporting sport projects for youth with disabilities, constructing Cruyff Courts, organising unique sporting events for youth and teaching young people how to organise sports activities. On a weekly basis more than 50,000 youngsters with a disability are given the opportunity to play sports through the projects supported by the Foundation. Currently, there are more than 175 Cruyff Courts (public playgrounds) built for children who are living in areas where there is a lack of space for sports and games. More information on: www.cruyff-foundation.org.

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