ING Belgium, SOS Children's Villages and BX Brussels are joining forces to support socially vulnerable young people
Today, ING Belgium is throwing its weight behind SOS Children's Villages and BX Brussels, Vincent Kompany's social-sport project that offers disadvantaged young people a perspective for the future through football and education
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 22 May 2014 - Today, ING Belgium is throwing its weight behind SOS Children's Villages and BX Brussels, Vincent Kompany's social-sport project that offers disadvantaged young people a perspective for the future through football and education. ING Belgium will offer the initiative logistical and financial support over three seasons. The fact that 30% of Brussels residents are currently living below the poverty line emphasises the need for this partnership.
ING Belgium is proud to be able to support BX Brussels. Thanks to this support, the organisation can continue to manage accessible membership fee
s and allow young people in Brussels to participate in a local football team. On average, membership fees for a football team cost around 400 euros, an amount that is unaffordable for many young people. At BX Brussels they can offer this for 100 euros. When the members behave well, they can even get their membership fees back. Vincent Kompany, ambassador of BX Brussels, has this to say about the project: “I am extremely happy for BX Brussels and our members that ING Belgium considers this a valuable project and is giving us such strong support. This is exactly the type of partnership that we had hoped to develop when the project was launched last year".
An innovative partnership in Belgium: ING Belgium puts SOS Children’s Villages in the spotlight
What makes this partnership so unique is that ING Belgium is donating its visibility to SOS Children's Villages. Until June 2017, not the ING Belgium logo but that of SOS Children's Villages will figure on the BX Brussels players' T-shirts. This is the first time that such a partnership has been created in Belgium. Tom Moons, Head of Partnerships at SOS Children's Villages, says: "We are delighted about this valuable initiative; obviously about the large amount of visibility SOS Children’s Villages will get through it, but even more so about the educational value it brings with it. It is a fantastic example of the spirit of BX Brussels. It is not just about developing talents, but also working on social responsibility. We are sure that the more than 80,000 children who are given shelter in our SOS Children's Villages worldwide are proud that young people in Brussels are taking them into their hearts in this way".
And that is not all. Once young people have signed up with BX Brussels, numerous activities will be arranged which take the personal development needs of young people into account, including language skills, educational courses, self-awareness and core values (respect, persistence, team-work, courage). ING Belgium will play an active role in this by promoting the activities and supporting them logistically. Inge Ampe, General Marketing Manager at ING Belgium adds: "At ING Belgium, the customer and the community we operate within are central. ING Belgium also takes its societal role very seriously. We have therefore made a point of being a prominent partner in Belgian football and supporting local initiatives which help socially vulnerable children. This partnership combines the best of these two worlds and shows our engagement with the community".
Valuable advice for families in need
Lastly, the bank will organise financial workshops for socially less-advantaged families with whom BX Brussels comes into contact. And these workshops are needed. This feeling is also shared by Jesse De Preter, CEO of BX Brussels: "Today, 30% of Brussels residents are living below the poverty line. BX Brussels therefore opens the door for young people who could not normally afford such things, and also for young people who have not been given a chance at other clubs. Through active social guidance, we are also encouraging young people to get their qualifications and to use them to make something of their lives. Thanks to the moral, logistical and financial support of ING Belgium and SOS Children's Villages, we can positively influence the future of underprivileged young people".
Situation in Brussels
- by 2020, some 20,000 more families will be living in Brussels in addition to the 511,000 families that are already there today
- 32% of children in Brussels grow up in a family with no income from work
- 23% of young people leave school without any qualifications
- a third of young people in Brussels are unemployed
Today, BX Brussels is active in 5 municipalities (Vorst, Jette, Neder-Over-Heembeek, Molenbeek and Anderlecht) and has some 150 members. By 2015, the organisation would like to have a thousand members: "With the cooperation of ING Belgium and SOS Children's Villages, we are on the right track to achieve these ambitious goals", explains Jesse de Preter.
***
ABOUT ING BELGIUM SA/NV
ING Belgium SA/NV services all banking customers with a wide range of financial products and via the distribution channel of their choice. ING Belgium SA/NV employs 9,129 FTE* and is a full subsidiary of ING Bank N.V. which services 33 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia.
* End December 2013
ABOUT SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES
Worldwide, 40 million children are living without parents or a family. We at SOS Children's Villages think this is unacceptable. For more than 60 years, we have built up expertise in caring for and raising orphans and vulnerable children, because a child cannot grow without love. Our 6,000 SOS mothers in our 546 children's villages worldwide play a central role in this, providing care for more than 80,000 children, some of them in Belgium. We also work preventively, however, by supporting the most vulnerable families so that children can remain with their biological families.
www.sos-kinderdorpen.be / www.sos-childrensvillages.org
ABOUT BX BRUSSELS
BX Brussels is a social-sport project in the capital of Belgium, launched ‘from scratch’ in the beginning of 2013. Initiator Vincent Kompany has clearly put his mark on the club as the entire focus of BX Brussels is to offer maximal chances to young people.
To maximize the impact, BX Brussels has made an important effort to make membership fees as accessible as possible for young players: The club has the lowest membership fees in the region and is widely spread over several Brussels municipalities.
Through active social guidance, the club is encouraging young members to develop their talents as much as possible and make something of their lives.
BX Brussels stimulates its members to get their qualifications, develop their language skills and engage themselves socially.
____________________
For further information:
ING Belgium Press Office : + 32 2 547 24 84, pressoffice@ing.be
Adriaan Snauwaert | Ketchum Belgium: +32 (0)497 70 23 46, adriaan.snauwaert@ketchum.com
