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Rangers second Scottish club in a week to win international accolade for charity and outreach work

Rangers have won the Social Responsibility of a Football Club, Role Model Award at the Football Is More conference - PA
Rangers have won the Social Responsibility of a Football Club, Role Model Award at the Football Is More conference - PA

Rangers became the second Scottish club in a week to win an international accolade for charity and outreach work when they collected the Social Responsibility of a Football Club, Role Model Award at the Football Is More conference in Switzerland on Wednesday. Previous winners of the biennial award include Chelsea, Benfica and Real Madrid and Rangers follow Paris Saint-Germain, who won in 2017.

Last week Aberdeen were voted Best Professional Football Club in the 2019 Uefa Grassroots Awards. The Don were recognised for their engagement with over 20,200 people across some 227,700 participations in projects which focus on three main themes - football for life, education and healthy communities – and operate across a geographical area which accounts for around 25 per cent or the entire land mass of Scotland, and approximately 10 per cent of the population.

In Rangers’ case, the award highlighted “outstanding involvement in educational and social welfare activities”, operated by the Rangers Charity Foundation. The panel of judges, which included academics and social responsibility experts from across Europe, declared themselves impressed by the Foundation’s use of football to help people and noted the comprehensive community programmes on offer for children and adults, with their focus on health and fitness, employment, equality, diversity and education.

The Rangers chairman, Dave King, said: “We are delighted to win this prestigious European-wide award for the incredible work the Rangers Charity Foundation does every day in the name of Rangers FC and our supporters.

“The Foundation thrives on the backing of the fans and brings everyone associated with the club together to achieve tangible benefits for people in need locally, across Scotland and beyond, thanks to our international partnership with Unicef, the world’s leading children’s charity.”

Connal Cochrane, Director of the Rangers Charity Foundation, added: “This is fantastic news for us.  The diversity and scale of the work undertaken by the Foundation, with a relatively small team, is remarkable. I believe it is exemplified by our strategic approach, as well as the skill and commitment of our staff.

“Football’s ability to engage people in our communities and help them transform their lives for the better is incredible. Receiving such an award from Football is More is a real honour and I hope it will shine a light on what I believe is a real treasure in our society, not just at Rangers and in Scotland but more widely across Europe.”

The SPFL, meanwhile, will join over 40 countries in marking the Fortnight of Action, organised by Show Racism the Red Card, between October 4 and 20, with professional clubs demonstrating their support over the coming weekend.