United Against Malaria - Sign the ball

United Against Malaria (UAM) is a collective of individuals and organizations with one goal; to beat this dreadful  disease.

Using the World Cup in South Africa as a focal point, footballers from around the world are united in supporting the cause, among those involved are Cameroon legend Roger Milla, USA striker Landon Donovan, Manchester City and Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure, Malian striker Frederic Kanoute and French World Cup winner Patrick Vieira.

UAM are using the tournament to promote international awareness of the disease, by acting now, an unprecedented increase in mosquito net coverage across Africa can be achieved by the end of 2010, saving millions of lives by the next World Cup in 2014.

With the tournament now well under way, UAM are asking football fans to ‘Sign the ball’ to show their  support for the cause. Add your name and join the winning team that will beat malaria.

Join the team at UAM by signing the ball on facebook and becoming a Facebook supporter of the campaign and check for latest news and updates on the United Against Malaria website.

football league

This Saturday, March 27th nine members of the Football League staff will be taking part in a British Military Fitness 10km race in Redhill, Surrey as part of their ongoing commitment to the Help For Heroes fund raising campaign.

Help for Heroes is the official charity partner of The Football League for the duration of the 2009/2010 season and throughout the campaign all 72 clubs have generated tens of thousands of pounds to help rehabilitate injured servicemen.

Andy Dodd, Marketing Executive at The Football League said:

“This season our 72 clubs and their fans have done a tremendous amount of work to raise both awareness and money for our official charity, Help for Heroes. This run is the perfect opportunity for us in the office to show our support and mirror the fantastic efforts of our clubs.”

The Football League staff team (Team FL) are however, currently falling short of the £1,000 fund raising target set for the run and are calling on football fans to support them by sponsoring them for the event.

The run snakes through a muddy, ditch filled private 4×4 course with the organisors warning “You are guaranteed to finish this race wet, muddy, smelly and exhausted!”

Obviously not what you would call a Fun Run then!

If you would like to help support the Help For Heroes fund, you can donate via the Team FL justgiving page.

help for heroes

All 72 Football League clubs will be taking part in the Football League’s ‘Help For Heroes’ week which runs from March 6th until March 14th.

The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness and much needed funds and to show support for the efforts and sacrifices of our Armed Forces.

‘Help For Heroes ‘ is the official charity partner of the Football League throughout the 2009/10 season and during this week all 72 clubs will be supporting the charity, with special events and collections.

All clubs will be involved with the following:

• Stage a designated Football for Heroes match at their home ground
• Provide a promotional photo featuring managers and players with Help for Heroes banners and balls
• Emerge from the tunnel behind a Help for Heroes banner
• The respective captains and the match officials will pose for a photo at kick-off with a Help for Heroes banner
• Both managers will wear Help for Heroes wristbands for the duration of the game
• The home team will sign a Football League Help for Heroes ball which will then be auctioned off for the charity

In addition to this, clubs across The Football League will also be holding bucket collections, providing discounted tickets for our heroes and staging cheque presentations from previous Help for Heroes games.

Lord Mawhinney, Chairman of The Football League said: “The contribution being made by our armed forces around the world is truly humbling. As a nation we do not thank them enough for the sacrifices they make. The Football for Heroes week will provide an excellent opportunity for supporters to show their appreciation for the outstanding work being done.”

If you were supporting at many of the League clubs on Saturday you may have already witnessed the collections and special events taking place. The Football for Heroes fixture list will continue this week at the following games:

Monday 8th March
Colchester United v. Brighton & Hove Albion
Tuesday 9th March
Bury v. Darlington (TBC)
Crystal Palace v. Bristol City

For more details of the charity and how you can help visit ‘Help For Heroes’ here.