Celebrating a worthy goal
IT’S the annual Soccer Aid match this Sunday, but before kick-off here’s a look back at where the money raised has gone so far.
Since Robbie Williams and pals came up with the idea for the celebrity and professional football match – and the first game, which took place in 2006 – Soccer Aid has raised more than £38million on behalf of international children’s charity Unicef.
Actor James Nesbitt – the twinkly eyed star of Cold Feet and The Missing – has been an ambassador for Unicef since 2005, and the huge Manchester United fan has been a part of Soccer Aid since the beginning.
Now James is embarking on an epic trip to some extreme locations to meet the children benefiting from Unicef ’s support. But it’s a journey into the unknown as he won’t have any idea where he is travelling to on each leg of his mission until just before he leaves.
He’ll be taking essential supplies to some of the hardest-to-reach children in the world, from the highest point on Earth (the Himalayas in Nepal) to the lowest (the desert surrounding the Dead Sea) and those living on a remote island in the South Pacific.
He’ll see first-hand how Unicef is changing these children’s lives, with things like teaching equipment for kids whose school was destroyed in an earthquake, coats and shoes for vulnerable children facing the winter months, a football programme to help girls get an education, and vaccine programmes to keep them healthy.