EitC joins hands with SportPesa

Everton in the Community (EitC), Everton Football Club’s social responsibility initiative, has partnered with, SportPesa, a global technology and entertainment company. As per the partnership agreement, SportPesa will become an Official Partner of the Club’s charitable arm.

SportPesa will offer funding for Everton in the Community’s long-standing flagship mental health programme “Imagine Your Goals.” So far, the programme has been funded internally using finite charity resources since it was affected by external NHS budget cuts.

Speaking on the new partnership, Everton in the Community CEO Richard Kenyon said: “As a charity we have been delivering mental health provision for over a decade with ‘Imagine Your Goals’ being one of our flagship programmes. It has been extremely valuable to so many people in our local community but almost a year ago our external funding was cut, which has meant we have been funding it internally through Everton in the Community.”

“This partnership with SportPesa means that we can continue with our great work and continue changing people’s lives, but it also means we can plan for the future with a sustainable programme moving forward. It’s a very important partnership for the charity but more importantly, it’s really very valuable to the people it helps every week.”

One in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, while nationally suicide is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50.

Through its five football therapy sessions each week, Imagine Your Goals has been at the forefront of tackling these issues on Merseyside for over 10 years and supports over 200 individuals each week, offering people who are living with mental health issues an opportunity to talk about their problems and seek help and support in a familiar environment.  And to see the programmes impact first hand, Everton stars Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Michael Keane and representatives from SportPesa met participants from Imagine Your Goals at USM Finch Farm to find out more about how Everton in the Community has helped change – and even saved – their lives.

Speaking after the session, Blues star Baines said: “Myself and Jags have been involved with this programme in the past and it’s always good to catch up with the lads and to hear their stories, real genuine stories about how it’s changed their lives so much and in some of their cases, saved their lives. When you get to sit with them and have that conversation it really does bring home the importance of the work that’s being done.

The lads spoke about what the programme gives them on a daily and weekly basis and it’s brilliant. It’s been great to come down and see the impact it’s having.”

Echoing his teammate, Jagielka said: “The whole project here is set up to come to you whenever you need support. If you can stop a problem from becoming anything bigger by speaking to your peers or speaking to our staff, then it can help you out massively. We saw today how comfortable everyone is with each other and even how they accepted us into the conversation and shared their moments in their life where it has been really tough and be able to talk about it openly in such a big group, it’s amazing.”

The partnership will also see SportPesa become a “Founding Partner” of Everton in the Community’s mental-health focused campaign, “The People’s Place,” which will see the charity build and develop a purpose-built mental health facility close to Goodison Park to support anyone in need.

About SportPesa:
SportPesa is a growing global technology and entertainment company that is focused on sports and entertainment news. As such, our platforms immediately update sport scores and, in certain markets, offer fully licensed, real money gaming services. We are a brand committed to responsibly delivering our services and investing in the development of sports and our communities. We use the power of sport to unify people everywhere; connecting customers with excitement, sports clubs with funding and society with opportunities.

About Everton in the Community:
Everton in the Community is one of the UK’s top sporting charity’s and firmly established on the world stage of community sports development. As the official charity of Everton Football Club, it is considered one of the Premier League’s leading community schemes due to the quality and reach of its various programmes.
Established in 1988, Everton in the Community has been at the forefront of social intervention across Merseyside, not afraid to tackle issues which others shied away from and offers over 40 programmes covering a range of social issues including health, employability, anti-social behaviour, crime, education, dementia, poverty, youth engagement, youth justice and disability.
Operating 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Everton in the Community supports the most vulnerable and underprivileged members of local communities.