Sportpesa extends Everton partnership

Sportsbetting operator SportPesa has extended its Principal Partnership with British professional football club Everton to include involvement with club’s charity arm ‘Everton in the Community’.

As official partner, SportPesa will provide funding for Everton in the Community’s long-standing flagship mental health programme ‘Imagine Your Goals’, which since April 2018 has been funded internally using finite charity resources after external NHS budget cuts.

Through its five football therapy sessions each week, Imagine Your Goals has been at the forefront of tackling mental health issues on Merseyside for over 10 years and supports over 200 individuals each week, offering an opportunity to talk about their problems and seek help and support in a familiar environment.

Speaking on the new partnership, Everton in the Community CEO Richard Kenyon said:

“This partnership with SportPesa means that we can continue with our great work and continue changing people’s lives, but it also means we can plan for the future with a sustainable programme moving forward. It’s a very important partnership for the charity but more importantly, it’s really very valuable to the people it helps every week.”

The partnership will also see SportPesa become a ‘Founding Partner’ of Everton in the Community’s mental-health focused campaign, ‘The People’s Place’, which will see the charity build and develop a purpose-built mental health facility close to Goodison Park to support anyone in need.

In addition to a financial contribution to The People’s Place, SportPesa have created ‘Goals That Give’, a new initiative that will see the operator donate GBP 1,000 for every Everton goal scored at Goodison Park for the entire length of the partnership, backdated to the start of the 2018-19 season.

“…we realised that the need for a physical facility where people can just call in and discuss their needs is vital. We launched a one-million-pound fundraising campaign at the start of the season and having SportPesa join us as a Founding Partner means that we can really build on our plans,” Kenyon said.

Adam Beighton, Director at SportPesa, said: “Giving back and being part of the community is the core value that SportPesa has grown up with since we were first established five years ago. We are very proud of the work that we do in giving back to the community rather than just being a part of it – this is absolutely key in everything we do. To be involved in such a very special project for us is fantastic and we’re very proud to be part of Everton in the Community”

As a consequence of the partnership, SportPesa will conduct staff engagement courses across all current and future markets of operations to help educate its own staff on mental health wellbeing.

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