O2 is marking its commitment to young people by supporting 1GOAL, the FIFA-backed mobile campaign which aims to get every child out of poverty and into school by the year 2015.
O2 customers can show their support by signing up at www.o2.co.uk/1goal and from Friday 11th June will also be able to sign up for free* by texting 1GOAL to 20102. The results of 1GOAL will be presented to world leaders at a summit later this year as a petition for greater funding in education. 1GOAL aims to signup 72 million people to show their support ‘ one for every child out of school.
Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefonica O2 UK, said “Education is a basic right that every child should have access to. We’re very proud to be involved with 1GOAL’s campaign and to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to sign up to such a great cause via a free text message. We’re committed to improving the lives of young people in the UK, Europe and Latin America and our new Think Big programme in the UK is an example of this commitment. It gives young people across the UK the encouragement and confidence to bring positive change to their communities.”
Arsenal players Thomas Vermaelen and Kieran Gibbs joined O2 to show their support for 1GOAL. Thomas commented, “The 1GOAL campaign is a really great cause and one that we at Arsenal are excited to support. Universal education should be a reality for all, not something that 72 million children are deprived of.”
Kieran Gibbs added “We are delighted to back the 1GOAL initiative. Football is going to be on the minds of many people this summer and, through the power of this campaign, we hope that people will also be thinking about the real need of getting children into education too.”
O2 recently launched Think Big, a £5 million, three-year campaign that champions the ideas of young people aged between 13 and 25 through grants, support and training. It aims to bring communities together, whilst improving the self-confidence of young people and has the potential to improve the lives of 100,000 people between the ages of 13 and 25.
O2 is also an active supporter of parent company Telefonica’s Proni¤o programme. Proni¤o has helped nearly 164,000 children out of poverty and into education and is currently working with 108 leading charities and organisations in 13 countries to abolish child labour across Latin America. O2 employees have been involved in the programme, spending time each summer teaching in Latin America at schools attended by Proni¤o children.
For more information about O2’s Think Big programme visit www.o2.co.uk/thinkbig
For information on Telefonica’s Pronino programme visit http://www.fundacion.telefonica.com/en/pronino/1goal/index.htm
Supported by the GSMA, 1GOAL has the potential to reach over billion people worldwide, making it the largest, cause-related campaign in history.
*Texts to 20102 are free for O2 Mobile customers. Other networks will charge their standard rate.
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