Coca-Cola Great Britain puts neighbourhood sport in the picture

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Coca-Cola Great Britain is launching a new campaign on 96-sheet billboards to raise awareness of its partnership with StreetGames, the charity that provides access to doorstep sport for young people in disadvantaged communities around the UK.

To mark the partnership, Coca-Cola GB has commissioned a series of photographs featuring inspiring young people from StreetGames sport projects in England and Wales.

The images, shot by leading portrait photographer Zak Waters, feature the young people showcasing sport in their local area.  Those taking centre-stage range from footballers to dancers to BMX riders, all chosen because they have an inspirational personal story about how StreetGames has played a positive role in their lives.

The images will be turned into a series of 96-sheet billboards and displayed in the subjects' home cities throughout August and September, coinciding with a schedule of mass-participation StreetGames sports festivals running around the UK during the summer. The Festivals are open to StreetGames participants who attend regular weekly sessions and are a way of rewarding their attendance while also encouraging them to bring new friends to join in. 

The billboard sites have been donated to the StreetGames campaign by Coca-Cola GB and are more usually reserved for images of their roster of elite athletes. The shots aim to inspire other young people to find out more and get involved with their local StreetGames projects.  The chosen StreetGames participants' stories will be brought to life through a national and regional PR campaign.

More photos highlighting the flavour of local StreetGames projects will be turned into mini exhibitions in the six major cities and an online gallery of the entire project will be showcased on www.coca-cola.co.uk /community and www.streetgames.org.

The StreetGames partnership is just one example of how Coca-Cola Great Britain is continuing to invest in community programmes which help people live more active lives.

Liz Lowe, Citizenship Manager, Coca-Cola Great Britain, said:

"StreetGames does some exceptional work in bringing sport and dance more readily into teenagers' lives by placing it at the heart of their communities.  By making it open to all, they're giving young people the chance to enjoy a whole raft of benefits that an active lifestyle brings, like friendship, better health and increased confidence.

We're helping StreetGames reach out to communities and one of the things we wanted to do was to celebrate the achievements of some of the young people who have been involved. They really deserve to be the heroes of our campaign. We've chosen six but there are thousands of young people all with their own stories to tell of how getting involved in sport can change lives."

Jane Ashworth OBE, CEO of StreetGames, added:

"StreetGames is improving the sporting landscape for young people living in disadvantaged communities. We want to ensure that everyone is able to benefit from the benefits of regular sports participation regardless of their social circumstances.

At StreetGames we're delighted that our partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain is allowing us to highlight the remarkable young people who shine, week in week out, at our projects. Our work with Coca-Cola Great Britain is improving the quality of doorstep sport through training and education. This gives coaches, volunteers and mentors the skills to grow and sustain sports participation in deprived communities."

For more information go to www.streetgames.org

ENDS

Notes to editors

For futher information please contact:

Jessica Silver at Lexis PR, jsilver@lexispr.com / 020 7908 6545

Melanie Jack at Lexis PR, mjack@lexispr.com / 020 7908 6542

Coca-Cola & StreetGames

Coca-Cola Great Britain is supporting StreetGames in a three year partnership that will allow it to deliver an improved sporting experience to over 110,000 young people nationwide. The association will see Coca-Cola GB help StreetGames grow its network of projects and create 300 neighbourhood festivals across the country, launch into Scotland for the first time and establish a legacy of improved training for coaches through the first StreetGames Sport for Change Academy. The partnership is part of Coca-Cola Great Britain's ambition to inspire and encourage positive behaviour change among a traditionally hard-to-reach audience.

The Coca-Cola Company

Coca-Cola is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands.
Along with Coca-Cola, recognised as the world's most valuable brand, the Company's portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, Glacéau vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply and Georgia. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees.

Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate of 1.7 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate.

StreetGames

StreetGames is a multiple award winning national charity launched in 2007. A national partner of Sport England and a national centre of expertise for developing sport in disadvantaged communities, the charity helps to make sport accessible to all young people, regardless of their income or social circumstances. It does this by supporting and establishing local projects around the UK that deliver doorstep sport, i.e. positive activities and sport provided to young people when they want it, where they want it and how they want it. More than one million attendances have already been generated by StreetGames projects.

StreetGames' ongoing work to change sport, communities and lives has been recognised by the Chief Medical Officer's Public Health Awards, The Charity Awards, The Business Charity Awards and Beyond Sport. For full details of our awards success, visit the 'About Us' section on our website. StreetGames' Chief Executive Jane Ashworth has been awarded an OBE for her services to community sport.  These commendations demonstrate StreetGames' effectiveness in sport and wider impact on crime, health and community development.

StreetGames Festival Dates and Locations

Birmingham - 5^th August - Nechells Community Leisure Centre

London - 12^th August - Westminster Academy Sports Centre

Newcastle - 24^th August - Centre for Sport, Westgate Community College

Manchester - 26^th August - Sportcity

Bristol - 10^th September - Millenium Square

Cardiff - 31^st October - Splott Park