• BT Sport – The Supporters Club provides grant to Active Communities Network

• Grant will help to deliver sports-based employment project in Northern Ireland• Over 300 young people in North and West Belfast set to benefit•         Grant awarded as part of The Supporters Club first birthday celebrations

London, England – Thursday 26 June 2014: BT Sport analyst Michael Owen, the former England, Real Madrid and Liverpool striker, has today marked the one-year anniversary of The Supporters Club - broadcaster BT’s initiative which aims to build a better world through sport. The Supporters Club has celebrated by announcing a number of grants for charitable organisations and sports partnerships across the UK.

One of the beneficiaries is Active Communities Network, a UK-wide youth and community development charity who work with a variety of partners to tackle poverty and social deprivation at the heart of neighbourhoods using sport for development.

The Supporters Club grant will enable Active Communities Network to deliver a sports-based employability project involving over 300 young people across North and West Belfast, many of whom are classified as ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET). A recent report highlighted that 21.3% of Northern Ireland’s young people are now classified as NEETs with the number growing rapidly and costing the economy close to £5 million per week.

Since 2009 Active Communities Network have promoted personal, social and community development for young people in Belfast through sport, physical activity, arts and culture with regular sports-based sessions, training qualifications and knowledge-sharing taking place throughout the city.

The grant was announced as part of ‘We Are One’, a celebration of the first year of The Supporters Club, with a host of activities taking place including sports partners, charity projects and BT employees.  To date the Supporters Club has raised £2.5 million from BT Sport customers and BT in its first year and has funded 13 sport-inspired community projects – seven in the UK, six overseas.

Gary Stannett MBE, CEO, Active Communities Network said: “We would like to thank BT and those who have donated to The Supporters club for their generosity towards supporting our work and improving the lives of young people across Belfast.

“The young people we work with in Belfast are a great example of what can be achieved when you empower them to help them maximise their potential. This grant ensures our work can reach the next level, helping to create positive role models who can inspire others throughout the city.

“Unemployment, access to accreditations and a lack of skills for the workplace are issues that affect the whole community and this cross-community work is something that Active Communities Network has championed for many years and is a model of delivery that can have a far reaching impact.”

Keep up to date with The Supporters Club on Twitter @supporters and use the hashtag #weare1.

For more information about Active Communities Network in Belfast please email info@activecommunities.org.uk, visit the website at www.activecommunities.org.uk, Tweet @ActiveCN, or call 02890 245 969.

-ENDS-

 Notes to Editors1 – For more information about Active Communities Network please contact us on 020 7407 8177, email media@activecommunities.org.uk or visit www.activecommunities.org.uk

2 – Active Communities Network is a registered charity with headquarters in London and regional offices in Manchester, Belfast and Cape Town.

A youth and community development charity, our mission is to tackle poverty and social deprivation at the heart of neighbourhoods in the UK, Ireland and on the international stage. By delivering grassroots projects, primarily through the mediums of sport and cultural activity, with highly trained and multi-skilled staff, our vision of engaging, supporting, mentoring and progressing young people into education, training and employment is realised.

Through this approach we also impact on the wider community by promoting a greater sense of citizenship, cohesion and inclusion through social action projects, youth volunteering and cross community events.

Active Communities Network was established in 2007 in response to the short term funding, ‘parachuting in’ of organisations, negative messaging and competition for scarce resources that blighted the community development, and sport for development, sectors at the time.

The charity was initiated through the coming together of a number of local projects and frontline workers, initially in south London, pooling resources and expertise and with a desire to deliver a new approach to youth and community development. We have since broadened our reach and approach to deliver projects under our own management including national programmes and provide training whilst delivering strategic support to other agencies and initiatives across a number of geographic regions globally.

Partnerships are at the heart of our approach and we work with like-minded funders, strategic partners and delivery agencies to ensure maximum returns for the young people and communities we support whilst avoiding duplication of services and resources.

Our established network of partners means we can deliver national and international programmes via locally appropriate providers without the need for a large and cumbersome organisational structure, retaining our flexible and responsive approach to local issues.

This commitment to partnership is further underlined by our commitment to action research and identifying best practice, publishing independent research to support the wider sector(s), developing workforce development and accreditation pathways for young people, volunteers and staff, and supporting agencies around the world to replicate our approach within their own communities.

3 - The Supporters Club aims to build a better world by bringing people together through sport. Donations from BT and our customers are invested into projects selected in partnership with Comic Relief. When customers sign up to BT Sport, they are able to make a recurring £1, £3 or £5 monthly subscription to The Supporters Club to help support these and other similar projects.

4 - BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2014, BT Group’s reported revenue was £18,287m with reported profit before taxation of £2,312m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.  For more information, visit www.btplc.com.