ITV and Join In team up to drive volunteering in community sport

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ITV and Join In team up to drive volunteering in community sport

ITV and sports charity Join In have today announced they are partnering for the launch of a new ITV Local Heroes campaign to encourage volunteering in local sport, setting a target of generating interest in volunteering in community sport from a further 100,000 new volunteers.

From the World Cup to the Tour de France, an incredible summer of sport lies ahead, and as a broadcaster of these events, ITV want to inspire and empower viewers to get active, be a part of the action, and make a difference in their local communities.

As part of its on-going commitment to grass-roots sport, and the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy, Join In is partnering with ITV to connect viewers who register interest in volunteering with opportunities at local sports clubs in their local community.

Join Ins research suggests that every volunteer allows twelve participants to enjoy community sport, so with a target of generating interesting from a further 100,000 new volunteers, a boost of this kind could mean up to 1.2 million new participants involved in sport in their local clubs.

The ITV Local Heroes campaign kicks off on 4th June with a promotional trail starring England football legend Ian Wright. The promo for the ITV Local Heroes campaign will highlight the importance of volunteers within community sport and will debut during England's pre-World Cup friendly against Ecuador.

Local Heroes will be brought to life in ITV Fever Pitch, ITV's World Cup fan park in Manchester, where games will be screened every match day in a beach soccer stadium, and in the mornings, a community programme will run where schools from the North West will come down to receive beach soccer lessons from professionals.

Olympic and Paralympic charity Join In has also partnered with ITV to recruit members of the public to volunteer at ITV Fever Pitch, throughout the duration of the tournament.

Rebecca Birkbeck, CEO of Join In commented, Join In is thrilled to be working in partnership with ITV, putting sport at the heart of communities by encouraging thousands of people to volunteer at local sports clubs and groups across the UK. We believe that this collaboration with ITV Local Heroes will inspire 100,000 new volunteers to lend a hand and encouraging more people into sport and ultimately leading happier and healthier lives.

Sara Hanson, ITV's Head of Corporate Responsibility said, This summer ITV will be bringing some of the worlds biggest sporting events into our homes, and we hope to channel some of that national pride and emotion into local community sports. Over the year we run a number of public campaigns linked to our programming or national events to encourage more viewers to make a difference. Our hope is that fantastic events like the World Cup will inspire viewers to get active and offer their help, so even more people can enjoy community sport - there is no better time to become an ITV Local Hero.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About ITV Corporate Responsibility

Being at the heart of local communities by using the power of our reach, and our programming presence, to highlight causes, and to help inspire, engage and empower viewers to make a difference, is an important part of ITV's Corporate Responsibility Agenda.

We do this on a national scale, through campaigns such as Text Santa which has to date raised over 15 million for charitable causes. In addition to fundraising for the chosen charities, Text Santa is all about helping someone near you', not just through donations, but also by connecting our audiences with our chosen charities on a national and local level. One example of this is The Big Volunteer' which is part of Text Santa.

On a local level, we use our reach as the UK's most watched commercial broadcaster, to highlight causes and engage and inspire our viewers to make a difference in local communities. In 2013, over 18 hours of airtime across our programmes was dedicated to highlighting these causes across our communities. More information can be found here http://itvresponsibility.com/our-reach/local/

The People's Millions for example is one of ITV's long standing campaigns, run in partnership with the Big Lottery Fund. Each year, individual awards of up to £50,000 of National Lottery funding are available for local community projects that will help improve the lives of people from that area. Shortlisted projects are all of our individual regional news areas across the UK, where viewers have the chance to vote for the community project they want to see win up to £50,000 of Big Lottery funding.

About Join In

Join In is the sports volunteering charity created out of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to increase local sports volunteering opportunities and help grow community sport. Its patron is comedian and marathon runner Eddie Izzard. Join In has recently recruited over 200 Local Leaders, a nationwide network of volunteers who will work with sports clubs and physical activity groups to help them recruit and retain volunteers. This will help Join In achieve its aim of putting 100,000 more volunteers into community sport.

Join In is funded by the Big Lottery Fund, government grant and by Official Partner BT. BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. BT was the official communications services partner for London 2012, and is committed to ensuring that the social legacy of the Games continues. Last year, BT people spent 43,600 work days volunteering in the community, providing over £13 million of in-kind support and assistance to the organisations they helped.

As part of the Big Lottery Fund's Keeping the Spirit of 2012 Alive' programme, The Big Lottery Fund awarded Join In £1.5 m

LINK:	http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/itv-and-join-team-drive-...
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