With just two days until the kick off of the 7th annual Homeless World Cup—in Milan, Italy—the United Nations have announced their support. As the Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, Wilfried Lemke said:
It is with great pleasure that I offer my support to the “Milan 2009 Homeless World Cup”, a football initiative which has been uniting teams of homeless people to take a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country and change their lives forever. The Homeless World Cup initiative is an extraordinary example of the application of sport as a tool for community development. The Homeless World Cup has triggered the establishment of over 50 local grass roots projects working with people who are homeless and excluded from society. The impact of the Homeless World Cup has been consistently significant with a large majority of players changing their lives for the better, by coming off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, education, homes, training, reuniting with families and some even going on to become players and coaches for professional or semi-professional football teams. Considering the increase in the number of participating teams from 18 national teams in the year 2003 to 48 national teams for the current event in Milan, the Homeless World Cup is well on the way to realizing its vision—a healthy, abundant, confident world where everyone has a home, a basic human right. The initiative has been a very successful means to raise awareness of issue surrounding the homeless and to improve the image of homeless people amongst the general public. The positive impact that this project has been able to have on individuals from more than 70 countries makes it an initiative that deserves any additional support it can obtain. I look forward to a continued collaboration with the Homeless World Cup initiative and wish all participants the very best in this life-changing experience!”
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The Milan, Italy 2009 Homeless World Cup takes place in the Arena Civica, Sempione Park from 6-13 September 2009. For more, please visit homelessworldcup.org.
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Over 75 submissions were received from filmmakers from 5 continents. And…
Congratulations to Buzz Films, the winner of the $50,000 Homeless World Cup/Nike film competition (which we first blogged about here). Buzz Films was formed by award-winning directors Jan Bednarz and Robin Schmidt, as a home for diverse documentary and drama projects.
Buzz Films will see up-and-coming presenter Buddy (pictured left) capture the spirit and essence of the Homeless World Cup. Buddy’s last assignment was for National Geographic with a trip through Outer Mongolia.
Follow Jan and Robin’s blog during the creation of the film at: www.buzzfilms.co.uk/blog.
The Milan, Italy 2009 Homeless World Cup takes place in the Arena Civica, Sempione Park from 6-13 September 2009. For more, please visit homelessworldcup.org.
The Homeless World Cup is delighted to announce a collaboration with Nike to discover the ideal filmmaker to produce a short, high energy film about the Milan 2009 Homeless World Cup. With its $50,000 prize, and the chance to gain instant fame, this may just be that “perfect opportunity” you’ve been waiting for. Break out your video cameras, and get busy brainstorming. This contest is the real deal. This contest is no joke.
An Irked Magazine exclusive by Donna Williams
[Ed's note: Donna Williams is Irked Magazine's Melbourne correspondent. She's an internationally best-selling author, painter, sculptor, and composer. She has autism, and a "fruit salad" of other disorders. Mel Young is one of the planet's leading advocates for the homeless. In addition to being co-creator and President of the Homeless World Cup, he's also co-founder of The Big Issue Scotland, co-founder of the International Network of Street Papers, author of "GOAL: The story of the Homeless World Cup," founder of New Consumer Magazine, and a Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Outstanding Fellow.]
Melbourne came alive this week to the glory and spectacle of the International Homeless World Cup and even I got swept up in it. Sacha Vais, founder and editor of Irked Magazine, contacted me offering me the opportunity to interview the founder of the HWC, Mel Young (also co-founder of The Big Issue Scotland in 1993). He arranged for a TV interview to be filmed with Mel Click to continue »
Josh Blue is a breath of fresh air, and a rapidly up-and-coming star in the vast world of stand-up comedy. Born with Cerebral Palsy, he uses a rare combination of comedic timing and stage presence to help crowds laugh at their own stereotypes and misconceptions about people with disabilities. Since winning Season 4 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Josh has emerged as one of the hottest comedians in North America, performing to wildly appreciative sold-out crowds on a non-stop coast-to-coast tour.
He is unbelievably hilarious. And extremely talented. And we’re HUGE fans of his work.
