TackleAfrica delivers HIV education out on the football pitch – where learning is enjoyable, memorable and creates a real understanding.    If the football pitch is our classroom, then balls, bibs and cones are our textbooks, pens and paper – the essential tools that we use to help young people learn critical life-saving messages about HIV.

Bibs and cones are expensive to buy in Africa and are extremely precious items, so we were delighted to receive a recent Soccer Store donation.   Our equipment has to last and stand up to the rigours of everyday use in tropical climates on hard dusty pitches, so it was great to find that the bibs and cones we received were of top quality.

Soccer Store’s donation will help save lives in Africa.   Visit www.thesoccerstore.co.uk to buy your top quality football equipment.

The inaugural iPAY2PLAY event will take part at Wembley Powerleague on 21st May.   3 teams of professional footballers and celebrities will play in a tournament alongside the highest bidding corporate team.   All the professionals will pay to play and also fundraise a set target to support TackleAfrica and 3 other charities.

The event is being organised by Peterborough and Congo star Gabriel Zakuani and TeamIMANI.   Gabriel and TeamIMANI will be visiting TackleAfrica’s projects in Ghana in June, and are raising money to help support young people like those they will meet in Tamale and Accra.

A full list of confirmed players are below – click on their names to donate to their fundraising pages!    If your company are interested in entering a team to play against professional footballers, contact tom@tackleafrica.org

Gabriel Zakuani - Peterborough and DR Congo

Kwesi Appiah – Crystal Palace

Leon Legge – Brentford

Emmanuel Frimpong – Arsenal

Yannick Bolasie – Bristol City

Eddie Kadi – Comedian and DJ

Kazenga LuaLua – Brighton and Hove Albion

Lomana Tresor LuaLua – Blackpool and DR Congo

Craig Mackail-Smith – Brighton and Hove Albion

Albert Adomah – Bristol City and Ghana

Matthew Briggs – Fulham

Kevin J – Comedian

Kwadwo Asamoah – Udinese and Ghana

Justin Hoyte – Middlesborough

Lethal Bizzle - Rap star

Kojo - Comedian and DJ

Carlton Cole – West Ham and England

Nile Ranger – Newcastle and England U21

The Jersey Football Marathon 2012 will take place on 28th July at Les Quennevais Sports Centre, off La Route Des Quennevais, St. Brelade, Jersey.

Along with this year’s other Football Marathons, it will almost certainly be the biggest, best and most successful charity football tournament of the year.     Why would you not get involved?

Here’s how it works:

• Squads of 8 will play 6aside football in an ingeniously structured super-tournament for 12 hours
• Each team has a fundraising target of £1,600 – which works out to £200 per player, £20 of which must be donated at time of registration
• Every team gets their own set of t-shirts, full fundraising support, and their own unique match schedules
• Teams will play about 25 games of 20 minute football, with roughly 4 games on to every ‘rest’ game
• During ‘rest’ games, some players will referee games involving other teams
• GPS systems from previous years indicate each player will cover about 40km over the course of the day – a little further than running a Marathon
• It’ll be really, really, really fun, if quite painful  Some feedback from teams in previous years can be found below
• The money you raise will save lives

Over the last 10 years, the Football Marathon has raised over half a million pounds.   In 2011 in London, 63 teams raised £140,000, playing 788 games of football in a single day.

Here’s how you register:

1.   Download the below Team application form.   Complete it in full and email it (in existing excel format) to tom@tackleafrica.org.

Team application form -  Football Marathon 2012 JERSEY

2.   Each player needs to make a registration donation of £20 at the time of registering, which is easiest done online at www.justgiving.com/jerseyfm2012

3.   Once registered you’ll receive confirmation of your place plus fundraising packs, sponsorship forms and further details as the big day approaches.    You also get to choose your team colours and there will be prizes and tournament-perks for teams who exceed their fundraising targets by the day of the event.

Notes:

Deadline for team registration is 15th June 2012.

Teams can be all male, all female or mixed gender

To take part the only criteria are that you are over 16, are in good enough physical condition to take part (check with your GP if unsure) and are at least as committed to hitting your fundraising target as you are to playing football for 12 hours.

For more information, email tom@tackleafrica.org

Here’s some feedback from players in previous Football Marathons:

“I wanted to say a massive thank you to you and the rest of the TackleAfrica team for the football marathon 2011… I don’t think there’s anything (apart from the weather!!) that I can think of that would improve the day”

“WHAT AN AMAZING EVENT!!!”

”As a player manager it felt like the event ran as smoothly as Ronaldo’s waxed chest.    Despite my shins feeling as broken as Abi Clancey’s poor heart, I and the team will definitely be back for more punishment next year”

”Massive thank you to the TackleAfrica crew – this was the biggest and best that I’ve attended (this was my 5th).   Even though we are all in pain it is a small price to pay for the work your charity does on a daily basis”

”I think the marathon mirrors a few of the qualities you guys have as an organisation – committed, inspiring, fun, inclusive.   The guys were blown away both by the challenge and completely uplifted by the event”

The Lancaster Football Marathon 2012 will take place on 14th July at Lancaster and Morecambe College, Morecambe Road, Lancaster, LA1 2TY.

Along with this year’s other Football Marathons, it will almost certainly be the biggest, best and most successful charity football tournament of the year.     Why would you not get involved?

Here’s how it works:

• Squads of 8 will play 6aside football in an ingeniously structured super-tournament for 12 hours
• Each team has a fundraising target of £1,160 – which works out to £145 per player, £20 of which must be donated at time of registration
• Every team gets their own set of t-shirts, full fundraising support, and their own unique match schedules
• Teams will play about 25 games of 20 minute football, with roughly 4 games on to every ‘rest’ game
• During ‘rest’ games, some players will referee games involving other teams
• GPS systems from previous years indicate each player will cover about 40km over the course of the day – a little further than running a Marathon
• It’ll be really, really, really fun, if quite painful  Some feedback from teams in previous years can be found below
• The money you raise will save lives

Over the last 10 years, the Football Marathon has raised over half a million pounds.   In 2011 in London, 63 teams raised £140,000, playing 788 games of football in a single day.

Here’s how you register:

1.   Download the below Team application form.   Complete it in full and email it (in existing excel format) to tom@tackleafrica.org.

Team application form – Football Marathon 2012 LANCASTER

2.   Each player needs to make a registration donation of £20 at the time of registering, which is easiest done online at www.justgiving.com/lancasterfm2012

3.   Once registered you’ll receive confirmation of your place plus fundraising packs, sponsorship forms and further details as the big day approaches.    You also get to choose your team colours and there will be prizes and tournament-perks for teams who exceed their fundraising targets by the day of the event.

Notes:

Deadline for team registration is 8th June 2012.

Teams can be all male, all female or mixed gender

To take part the only criteria are that you are over 16, are in good enough physical condition to take part (check with your GP if unsure) and are at least as committed to hitting your fundraising target as you are to playing football for 12 hours.

For more information, email tom@tackleafrica.org

Here’s some feedback from players in previous Football Marathons:

“I wanted to say a massive thank you to you and the rest of the TackleAfrica team for the football marathon 2011… I don’t think there’s anything (apart from the weather!!) that I can think of that would improve the day”

“WHAT AN AMAZING EVENT!!!”

”As a player manager it felt like the event ran as smoothly as Ronaldo’s waxed chest.    Despite my shins feeling as broken as Abi Clancey’s poor heart, I and the team will definitely be back for more punishment next year”

”Massive thank you to the TackleAfrica crew – this was the biggest and best that I’ve attended (this was my 5th).   Even though we are all in pain it is a small price to pay for the work your charity does on a daily basis”

”I think the marathon mirrors a few of the qualities you guys have as an organisation – committed, inspiring, fun, inclusive.   The guys were blown away both by the challenge and completely uplifted by the event”

We first got involved with TackleAfrica through our participation in the Football Marathon. After two years of competing as a team, during which we raised around £3500, we started to talk about what else we might do to contribute to the excellent work that TackleAfrica does.

After some discussion with TackleAfrica it became apparent that we could use some of our professional skills to help them with their work.  Part of this work required us to travel to Kenya to develop new methods through which Tackle Africa could monitor and evaluate its programmes.

We joined a coaching course in Nairobi as part-observers, part-participants.  This particular course was a new model for TackleAfrica.  For the first time, and in partnership with Christian Aid and local community groups, they were attempting to teach football coaching skills to community and health workers with an existing interest in HIV and AIDS education, rather than the other way round.

It was an incredible privilege to be able to work with the trainee coaches.  They came from a real range of backgrounds, from female health workers to male sports professionals. Embedding ourselves with the trainee coaches allowed us to fully understand the power of the TackleAfrica model.  One experienced coach that I spoke to had recently collaborated with two others to train 80 further coaches to deliver HIV and AIDS education through football.

The potential of the model is mind-blowing.  When a coach passes on his or her skills to 80 further coaches, existing networks of football and youth groups allow that group to very quickly establish a regular programme of HIV and AIDS education for hundreds of young people.  The act of taking 1 cohort of 20 coaches through the whole programme therefore has the potential to give thousands of young people access to HIV and AIDS education in their local community.

Once established the system is largely self sustaining.  The coaches, despite generally being from very poor backgrounds, do not get paid.  They are motivated solely by a desire to attack the virus that is devastating their nation.  It’s incredibly heart-warming, although in a country where up to 2 million people are estimated to be living with HIV or AIDS it is perhaps not surprising that people are happy to be given the skills to make a difference.

Buoyed by our experiences we are now starting to take steps to ensure that we can continue to support TackleAfrica from the UK.  The Football Marathon in London raises over £100k each year.  It’s a fantastic event, and one that we have decided to replicate by organising a sister event in Manchester on the 30^th June.

Participating in the Football Marathon, either as a player or a volunteer, is by far the best way of supporting the great work that TackleAfrica do. If you think you can raise a team, or would like to volunteer to help with either event on the day, then email tom@tackleafrica.org and he’ll send you all of the relevant details.

During the visit TackleAfrica were able to pass on classroom supplies as well as football equipment which had been kindly brought over and donated by The Hawks, a football team who participate in Tackle Africa’s annual Football Marathon (under their continental banner Los Halcones).

Last week nine members of The Hawks, a team formed by colleagues at the Department of Education in the UK, flew out to visit Kenya and witness some of the work that TackleAfrica is doing on the ground. Their experiences and feedback will help to strengthen TackleAfrica’s approach, particularly with regard to monitoring and evaluation.

The Hawks are also setting up a Regional Football Marathon in Manchester. The event is set to take place on the 30^th June at Salford Sports Village. If you are interested in entering a team or helping out, visit http://tackleafrica.org/?p=2080

The display of some of our favourite photos will be up in the Gallery of St Martin in the Fields Church from 10am until 5pm from 24th to 29th January.   Please feel free to drop in – it’s a public venue with no entrance charge.

A sample of some of the images can be seen below – if you’d like to buy a canvas print of any of our photos, please contact tom@tackleafrica.org

Football Marathon 2012 will take place on Saturday 7th July on Wormwood Scrubs Playing Fields in North West London (nearest tube East Acton on central line) .

It will almost certainly be the biggest, best and most successful charity football tournament of the year.     Why would you not get involved?

Here’s how it works:

• Squads of 8 will play 6aside football in an ingeniously structured super-tournament for 12 hours
• Each team has a fundraising target of £1,000 – which works out to £125 per player, £20 of which must be donated at time of registration
• Every team gets their own set of t-shirts, full fundraising support, and their own unique match schedules
• Teams will play about 25 games of 20 minute football, with roughly 4 games on to every ‘rest’ game
• During ‘rest’ games, some players will referee games involving other teams
• GPS systems from previous years indicate each player will cover about 40km over the course of the day – a little further than running a Marathon
• It’ll be really, really, really fun, if quite painful  Some feedback from teams in previous years can be found below
• The money you raise will save lives

Over the last 10 years, the Football Marathon has raised over half a million pounds.   In 2011, 63 teams raised £140,000, playing 788 games of football in a single day.

Here’s how you register:

1.   Download the below Team application form.   Complete it in full and email it (in existing excel format)to tom@tackleafrica.org.

Team application form – Ladies Football Marathon 2012 London

2.   Each player needs to make a registration donation of £20 at the time of registering, which is easiest done online at www.justgiving.com/footballmarathon2012

3.   Once registered you’ll receive confirmation of your place plus fundraising packs, sponsorship forms and further details as the big day approaches.    You also get to choose your team colours and there will be prizes and tournament-perks for teams who exceed their fundraising targets by the day of the event.

Notes:

Deadline for team registration is 1st June 2012.   

Teams must be all female – though mixed-gender or all-male teams can enter the larger event taking place alongside this one on the same day.   To take part the only criteria are that you are over 16, are in good enough physical condition to take part (check with your GP if unsure) and are at least as committed to hitting your fundraising target as you are to playing football for 12 hours.

For more information, email tom@tackleafrica.org

Here’s some feedback from players in previous Football Marathons:  

“I wanted to say a massive thank you to you and the rest of the TackleAfrica team for the football marathon 2011… I don’t think there’s anything (apart from the weather!!) that I can think of that would improve the day”

“WHAT AN AMAZING EVENT!!!”

 ”As a player manager it felt like the event ran as smoothly as Ronaldo’s waxed chest.    Despite my shins feeling as broken as Abi Clancey’s poor heart, I and the team will definitely be back for more punishment next year”

”Massive thank you to the TackleAfrica crew – this was the biggest and best that I’ve attended (this was my 5th).   Even though we are all in pain it is a small price to pay for the work your charity does on a daily basis”

”I think the marathon mirrors a few of the qualities you guys have as an organisation – committed, inspiring, fun, inclusive.   The guys were blown away both by the challenge and completely uplifted by the event”

Football Marathon 2012 will take place on Saturday 7th July on Wormwood Scrubs Playing Fields in North West London (nearest tube East Acton on central line) .

It will almost certainly be the biggest, best and most successful charity football tournament of the year.     Why would you not get involved?

Here’s how it works:

• Squads of 8 will play 6aside football in an ingeniously structured super-tournament for 12 hours
• Each team has a fundraising target of £1,760 – which works out to £220 per player, £20 of which must be donated at time of registration
• Every team gets their own set of t-shirts, full fundraising support, and their own unique match schedules
• Teams will play about 25 games of 20 minute football, with roughly 4 games on to every ‘rest’ game
• During ‘rest’ games, some players will referee games involving other teams
• GPS systems from previous years indicate each player will cover about 40km over the course of the day – a little further than running a Marathon
• It’ll be really, really, really fun, if quite painful  Some feedback from teams in previous years can be found below
• The money you raise will save lives

Over the last 10 years, the Football Marathon has raised over half a million pounds.   In 2011, 63 teams raised £140,000, playing 788 games of football in a single day.

Here’s how you register:

1.   Download the below Team application form.   Complete it in full and email it (in existing excel format)to tom@tackleafrica.org.

Team application form – Football Marathon 2012 LONDON

2.   Each player needs to make a registration donation of £20 at the time of registering, which is easiest done online at www.justgiving.com/footballmarathon2012

3.   Once registered you’ll receive confirmation of your place plus fundraising packs, sponsorship forms and further details as the big day approaches.    You also get to choose your team colours and there will be prizes and tournament-perks for teams who exceed their fundraising targets by the day of the event.

Notes:

Deadline for team registration is 1st June 2012. The event will be capped at 64 teams on a first come first served basis.

Teams can be all male, all female or mixed gender – though note there is also an all-female event taking place at the same place, same date if female teams would rather compete in this

To take part the only criteria are that you are over 16, are in good enough physical condition to take part (check with your GP if unsure) and are at least as committed to hitting your fundraising target as you are to playing football for 12 hours.

For more information, email tom@tackleafrica.org

Here’s some feedback from players in previous Football Marathons:

“I wanted to say a massive thank you to you and the rest of the TackleAfrica team for the football marathon 2011… I don’t think there’s anything (apart from the weather!!) that I can think of that would improve the day”

“WHAT AN AMAZING EVENT!!!”

“As a player manager it felt like the event ran as smoothly as Ronaldo’s waxed chest.    Despite my shins feeling as broken as Abi Clancey’s poor heart, I and the team will definitely be back for more punishment next year”

“Massive thank you to the TackleAfrica crew – this was the biggest and best that I’ve attended (this was my 5th).   Even though we are all in pain it is a small price to pay for the work your charity does on a daily basis”

“I think the marathon mirrors a few of the qualities you guys have as an organisation – committed, inspiring, fun, inclusive.   The guys were blown away both by the challenge and completely uplifted by the event”

HIV remains one of the biggest issues affecting the lives of African people.   Each year up to 2 million Africans acquire the infection, and about 1.3 million die as a result of it.   One in 20 Sub-saharan African adults is living with HIV, and about 12 million African children have been orphaned by the pandemic.

This is one of the biggest humanitarian issues in the world, and it should be centre-stage in people’s minds EVERY day, not just on 1st December. 

The good news is that recent years have brought with them real evidence that education and treatment really do work, and with this comes genuine hope that an end may be in sight.   New infection rates in 22 African countries fell by more than 25% between 2001 and 2009, and by the end of 2008, 44% of people needing antiretroviral therapy received the drugs – an increase from 2% 5 years previously.  

The reasons for these live-saving improvements are – broadly – twofold.   Firstly people in Africa have successfully changed their behaviour as a result of access to information and resources – and secondly people all over the world have stepped up to the challenge of providing these resources.    This is how simple saving lives can be – people giving and accepting help.

Clearly there is a long way to go.   HIV is nowhere near as high on the global agenda as it should be, particularly in these euphemistically termed ‘times of austerity’ (we Brits may be rightly worried about our pensions, but in Uganda food inflation is at 50% and people are worried about their next meal).    Global pledges made at G8 summits have not been delivered and we will fall well short of some of the Millenium Development Goals relating  to HIV.   As a result, millions will die unnecessarily due to lack of treatment, lack of resources, lack of information – in essence, lack of interest and commitment from the developed world.

Here’s what you can do to help.   Pick one or more that strike the most resonance with you and do them today.

1.    Read and share something about the HIV pandemic.   We recommend this:   http://www.positivenation.co.uk/magazine.php?section_id=8&issue_id=6  – or the latest UN report here or Avert’s excellent website where some of the stats above came from

2.   Donate £10 to TackleAfrica by texting ‘TKAF11 £10′ to 70070.   We will use your money to deliver HIV education through football coaching to young people across Africa

3.   Register free with http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/tackleafrica and TackleAfrica will receive a small donation from major retailers when you shop online

4.   Run a fundraising event for TackleAfrica at your school, workplace, university or football team.  We’ll help, contact us for more details

5.  ‘Like’ or ‘Follow’ TackleAfrica at www.facebook.com/tackleafrica or @tackleafrica on twitter.   Ask others to like or follow us too

6.    Make a regular donation at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charities/tackleafrica - it costs about £100 a year to train and support an African coach or schoolteacher to deliver HIV education to about 50 young people.   Give £10 a month and we’ll be able to throw in a couple of footballs too.

7.    Talk to your employer about partnership with TackleAfrica.   We can work with your staff to change lives in Africa.

8.    Register your interest in next year’s Football Marathon – email tom@tackleafrica.org

9.    Organise your own Football Marathon with our support – email tom@tackleafrica.org

10.   Volunteer your time and expertise to TackleAfrica – whether you’re a football coach, marketing expert, event organiser, researcher, doctor or anything else we will probably need your help.   email info@tackleafrica.org

11.    Climb Kilimanjaro in April and raise money for TackleAfrica.   Email tom@tackleafrica.org

one game saves lives