Beyond Sport, the global organisation that promotes, develops and funds the use of sport to create positive social change, is delighted to announce that the Beyond Sport Awards 2011 is now open for entries – the third annual celebration of the best sport and development projects from across the world.
Designed to recognise and reward those individuals and organisations using sport to drive forward social change, the Beyond Sport Awards incorporates 12 categories covering the entire sporting spectrum of health, social inclusion, corporate and social responsibility, and philanthropy.
The third year of the awards will look to build on the already significant global network of programmes created over the past two years, which now totals over 600 projects from more than 120 countries.
The awards categories are split into three clear sections – Community Awards; Corporation and Federation Awards; and the Judges’ Awards.
As was the case last year, the winners of the six Community Awards will each receive a minimum of $15,000 funding as well as a Business Support Package, which includes hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of strategic consultancy, marketing and advertising support, and more.
The Beyond Sport Awards 2011 will close for entries on March 14. However, entrants are encouraged to apply early as promotional and exposure opportunities will be available to programmes through Beyond Sport’s high-traffic online outlets.
A shortlist of projects in each of the awards categories will be revealed in early April, with representatives from those initiatives flown to South Africa for the second annual Beyond Sport Summit, where the winners will be unveiled.
The host city and dates for the Summit 2011 will be revealed shortly.
The awards winners are selected by the Beyond Sport Ambassadors, a group of high profile individuals chaired by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and who also include HRH Prince Faisal Al Hussein of Jordan, former South African football captain Lucas Radebe, and multi-Olympic gold medallists Michael Johnson and Sergey Bubka.
Previous winners of the awards have ranged from a project that provides safe spaces to play sports in a gang-stricken area of Chicago, to a programme in India that works with victims of human trafficking through dance and movement therapy, and a Venezuelan initiative that uses rugby as a tool to dismantle entire gangs.
Groups and individuals from across the globe can look to follow in the footsteps of these projects and enter their social change initiatives in the Beyond Sport Awards 2011 via the organisation’s website at www.beyondsport.org.
Beyond Sport is partnered with Barclays Spaces for Sports, TIME International and UNICEF.
