McDonald's is the first Founding Partner of 'Boots for Africa' - a FIFA™ backed appeal aiming to collect and deliver millions of cleaned up pairs of used football boots to the children of Africa.
The Boots for Africa appeal was set up in 2006 by Sheffield FC, officially the oldest football club in the world. Previously a pilot project, the appeal has already seen over 2000 pairs of boots collected and delivered to South Africa and is now aiming to collect 2 million pairs of boots in time for the 2010 FIFA™ World Cup in South Africa.
McDonald's sponsorship of 'Boots for Africa' is part of the companys ongoing commitment to community football across the UK.
McDonald's, through its partnership with the four home football associations, has created over 11,500 new volunteer community coaches and contributed over £21 million toward children's active lifestyles through community football programmes over the last six years.
McDonald's plans to use its established network of community football coaches, football festivals and clubs to assist collection when the appeal officially kicks off in Spring 2008.
Over the last year, eight local McDonald's restaurants have teamed up with Sheffield FC to offer communication support and boot collection bins as the club's official Community Partners.
Steve Easterbrook, President and CEO of McDonald's UK, said: "The Boots for Africa appeal is a fantastic initiative and McDonald's is delighted to be teaming up with Sheffield FC to add real value to what is a great cause. We believe that together with our community coaches and the schools and clubs they support, we can help Sheffield FC achieve its goal of collecting 2 million boots by 2010."
Richard Tims, Chairman of Sheffield FC, said of the link up: "We've always been aware that we needed the backing of a major sponsor to enable Boots for Africa to make the impact we believe it can have. Given McDonald's ongoing commitment to community football coaching across the UK we're absolutely thrilled to have them on board to help us reach our target!"
Please keep an eye out for further updates on how you can get involved in supporting the Boots for Africa appeal
