Our Goals for 2014 for the Fairplay for All Foundation

2013 was a huge success for FFA generally. We bought, renovated, and opened the new site for the drop-in centre in the first half of the year, started the Payatas FC shirts, baon store, urban farm, and other projects, and in terms of operations and finances we roughly tripled again for the year.

We’ve now released the annual report for 2013 showing what was achieved throughout the year. Check it out here: http://fairplayforall.weebly.com/latest-news.html

2013 has been a great year, but even so 2014 is set to be even better. So at the start of the year I wanted to blog about our goals for the year and a bit about how we’re going to achieve them.

First up is the Fairplay Academy. Click on the link there for a bit more information, but the Academy will be a Pre-School expanding every year into an Elementary School and then a High School. The basic premise is that you education sponsorship scheme has been doing well, but the schools in Payatas cater to 60-100 students per class, with undertrained, overworked, and underpaid teachers. With little facilities, due to the chronic underinvestment in poor areas, the quality of education is poor and in the long run we want to show how even with a small budget you can provide a quality education with the right training and philosophy.

With the Academy, there will be a futsal court (indoor football pitch). This will be for PE classes but particularly for the team, Payatas FC. Regular and more advanced training sessions will dramatically improve the players individually and the team overall. In the future this will support the Men’s and Women’s senior teams for Payatas FC. We have several players with National team potential, boys and girls, and with the right facilities we’re sure of providing more.

Then on the rooftop of these buildings will be a large urban farm to grow a huge supply of vegetables. Aside from providing for the food at the Pre-School, this will supply our own carenderias (local cafes) providing affordable and nutritious food. This is a huge step as while creating livelihood, this will offer healthy food to a community where soft drinks are cheaper than water and junk food is cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. As a result of this situation, over 80% of the people are malnourished. The families we work with can also apply for a microfinance loan to build smaller versions of the urban farm on their land. The potential for sustainable agriculture and income is exciting.

Lastly, the Street Child World Cup team will be flying out at the end of March. Representing the whole of the Philippines the team will be playing against over 20 different countries from around the world. Made up of former street children from across the country, we’re cautiously optimistic of the team’s chances in Rio De Janeiro for the 2014 Street Child World Cup.

So there’s our goals for 2014. How we’ll achieve this is the next step. We’re already in talks with several large corporate sponsors and grant making organisations, though at most this will cover half of the year’s budget. And this is where you come in. Soon we’ll be posting links about how you can support the charity, share the project with friends and family, and donate to make it a reality. It’s a difficult climate right now for charities because of the problems in the media. But as we account for all donations, and given that Naomi and I don’t receive a salary from the charity, you can be assured that all your donation goes to where it should. And that’s the beauty of working with a small organisation, your help goes where it should. And together, we can make all this happen.

So watch out in the next few weeks as we’ll be releasing more about how you can get involved with the projects and make all this become a reality. To get in touch email us at ffafoundation @ gmail.com or visit our website at www.fairplayforall.weebly.com