Kp24 Foundation Brings 24/7 Project To The UK
Cricketer Kevin Piertersen’s charity, The KP24 Foundation, has announced it will bring its 24/7 Project to the UK for the first time.
The UK version of last year’s Sprite 24/7 Project will see 72 underprivileged and marginalised 16-20 year olds take on a fully funded 10-day residential cricket and educational camp at Wellington College.
Picked by Chance to Shine’s street initiative, the 72 participants will gain access to a comprehensive programme of cricket and education mixed with opportunities to interact with Kevin Pietersen and his KP24 Foundation team.
The main aim of the UK 24/7 Project is to positively impact a number of different areas of the participants lives. The KP24 Foundation looks to up-skill the individuals in not only their cricket, but by challenging their lifestyle choices, as well as educating them in key areas of life and providing transferable skills to help them develop resilience, and most importantly allow them an opportunity to see all the various elements that go into the professional world of cricket.
The KP24 Foundation’s core goal is to give children and young adults around the globe better chances in life through sport and education projects.
The 24/7 Projects are the creation of Kevin Pietersen and stemmed from a belief that his playing legacy should be used to help empower and support future generations of cricket lovers around the world, who simply through a circumstance of life find themselves devoid of opportunity or the means to seek it.
Pietersen said: “Empowering the 16-20 demographic in the UK is extremely important to me. There are various issues facing unemployment and crime within this demographic and I believe with my cricketing legacy can have an impact with these guys and by using cricket I believe myself and my Foundation can affect change and make a difference in some of the harshest areas of the UK.
“This project has always been about finding cricket loving young adults with the hunger to learn and a desire to up-skill. Myself, and my team at the Foundation want this upcoming 10-day camp to encourage these guys to have a better chance in life and in turn I really hope this helps their communities where they are from for the better.”
The Chance to Shine Street programme, formerly known as StreetChance, was launched in 2008 with the aim to bring cricket to children in inner-city areas in London. In 2011/12, the programme was expanded to six more cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Dewsbury, Hull Liverpool and Manchester. It has now reached over 38,000 youngsters since 2008 and is taking cricket to new people in new areas that would otherwise miss out on the chance to play. 85%of participants since 2008 were not members of cricket clubs.
Throughout the course of the project, friends of Kevin Pietersen and Kevin Pietersen himself will be on hand to provide tips and help motivate and push the participants to get the best out of themselves.
