Read more about the ball and how it’s produced from Alive & Kicking:
The Partnership
Alive and Kicking and Vermont Green FC have come together to create a soccer ball like no other. With a common understanding that soccer can impact lives long before players lace up their boots and long after the final whistle blows, each ball produced is made with recycled materials and 100% of profit made by Alive and Kicking is being used to strengthen the Charity’s social impact programmes.
Who Are Alive and Kicking?
Alive and Kicking (AK) exist to create happier, healthier, more empowered communities. As the world’s only not-for-profit ball manufacturer, we achieve this by producing a sports ball like no other – creating access to jobs, play and vital health education. In other words, we Make. Play. Live.
Make. Through the production of FIFA standard soccer balls, we create ethical employment for adults from vulnerable job groups and drive self-sustaining communities. Since opening our doors we have produced 1,130,880 sports balls, created 1,134 ethical jobs and contributed over £5.75 million to the local economy.
Play. Through our community partnerships we give young people facing disadvantage regular access to sport, play and exercise. Our access programmes have given 9,113,670 children across 87 countries free access to play.
Live. Through our sport based award-winning health education programmes, we give young people facing disadvantage ongoing access to mental health education and services, delivered directly through sport. By training 1,496 youth educators to deliver programs in their own communities, we reach 125,575.
Direct Impact
Thanks to Vermont Green FC’s purchase of 100 soccer balls, Alive and Kicking will be able to achieve the following in line with the United Nations SDGs (UNSDGs). Relating our work to the UNSDGs means we are able to strengthen our performance, account for impact, and clearly communicate our progress
- Vermont Green FC will help boost physical wellbeing in the communities we work — Your support will enable AK to open a new ball library hub, ensuring 127 young people have free regular access to sport and play. Young people can borrow a ball for free, play with it with friends, family and neighbors, and then return it for someone else to use. The programme is proven to increase user weekly physical exercise by over three times and for 52% of users, it is the first time they have used local play spaces.
- Vermont Green FC will help boost mental wellbeing in the communities we work — 84% of ball library users say that accessing the ball library has boosted their mental wellbeing. Our feedback shows this is mainly due to increased physical exercise, shown above, as well as increased social interaction with friends, neighbors and family. 74% of users make new long term friends and 89% feel a bigger sense of community belonging.
- Vermont Green FC will support employment in disadvantaged areas – AK employ adults from vulnerable job groups. Put simply, the more balls we sell, the more jobs we can create. Over 50% of our employees are living with a disability, over 90% have not completed school and for 99% it is their first formal job. This economically empowers our staff, and their average of six dependents, so they can access vital good and services to live happy and healthy lives.