England Footballers Launch #beatdisease
Ahead of England’s 0-0 draw with Ireland on Sunday, the country’s international football players revealed what they wanted to be when they were five as part of the launch of Unicef UK’s Children in Danger summer appeal, raising money to help protect millions of children from disease.
According to Unicef UK, 17,000 children die every day before they reach their fifth birthday from diseases that are easy to prevent, mainly because they aren’t able to get the healthcare and life-saving vaccines they need.
As part of the campaign, England captain Wayne Rooney revealed that he had dreams of becoming a singer, whilst Harry Kane wanted to be a fireman when he grew up and Phil Jagielka dreamed of being a cowboy.
The players were also asked what they were scared of when they were five, with Gary Cahill admitting to a fear of heights and Michael Carrick confessing that the villains in the pantomime were his biggest fear.
When asked what the furthest they had travelled was at five years old, both Rooney and Carrick revealed they’d never been further than Butlin’s, whilst Leighton Baines had never left Kirby.
Jack Wilshere and Harry Kane admitted that David Beckham was their hero at five years old, and Jordan Henderson had an obsession with Batman.
Last year the England Footballer’s Foundation announced a four year partnership with Unicef, and will help tackle malaria, which kills one child every sixty seconds.
Rooney commented: “When I was very little I was quite shy but I remember wanting to be a singer. I’d never have imagined being able to achieve the things I’ve done, representing England and even captaining my country. Due to disease, millions of children aren’t even able to reach their fifth birthday which is absolutely shocking. All the lads are really proud to be supporting Unicef’s Children in Danger campaign, to help keep more children safe from disease.”
Unicef UK executive director David Bull added: “Unicef already supplies vaccines for one in three of the world’s children, and in 2014 we delivered 26 million mosquito nets to help keep millions of children and their families protected from malaria, but we won’t rest until every child is safe. By teaming up with the England Footballer’s Foundation & Unicef, the public can support our life-saving work and help protect millions of children from disease.
Players including Wayne Rooney, Gary Cahill, Jack Wilshere, Joe Hart and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will also be fronting a nation-wide publicity campaign raising awareness of the partnership and Unicef’s work protecting children from disease.
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