I was going to write about something else today, but then I get an e-mail from Paul who left his job several years ago to found my favourite charity – The Great Football Giveaway . They're not a big corporate NGO, but a small group of people who simply want to make a difference, and what they do is inspiring. Each year they run a project to hand deliver thousands of footballs, pumps and spare valves to some of the world's most disadvantaged children, schools and orphanages in countries like Malawi, Uganda and Angola. Distributing the footballs not only spreads a little happiness, but it dramatically increases attendance levels to the schools that have them.
Paul wrote to let me know that this year they are launching a new type of project in rural Tanzania, giving small groups
of volunteers the chance to run their own 'micro-projects'. So later this year, there will be 10 teams of volunteers going
to some of the remotest parts of Tanzania to personally deliver over 6,000
footballs and netballs on behalf of friends, families and supporters. I think it's a wonderful thing that in the year that the World Cup comes to the continent, the project will be reaching more African children than ever. Children who will see no benefit from the billions spent in South Africa.
And they have just invested some time to launch themselves onto the social web. So stop what you're doing, and go and help spread some real happiness. Watch the film. Follow them on twitter. Like them on Facebook. Subscribe to the blog. Buy a football. It will be a good thing you're doing.
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