UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:18 pm
' UPDATED '
Craig Bellamy 'devastated' by charity investigation
BBC
09/03/17
Concerns about former Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy's football academy in Sierra Leone are being looked into by the Charity Commission, the watchdog has confirmed.
The Craig Bellamy Foundation was set up in 2008 but closed in September 2016.
No accounts have been filed since March 2015.
Bellamy himself has appointed a legal team to examine any financial irregularities and his solicitor said the 37-year-old was "devastated".
Times investigation
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shatt ... 841c280360
TIMES INVESTIGATION
Shattered dreams and silence at the academy of hope
Craig Bellamy’s foundation was supposed to be a route to a better life but the future is bleak for boys now shunned by their families and living in poverty
Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter
March 9 2017,
The Times
Bellamy invested a reported £1.4 million into the academy, which opened in 2010, but last September the remaining staff and boys were told that it would not be re-opening after the holidays
GRAHAM HUGHES FOR THE TIMES
Two hours’ drive from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, a dusty road ends in the small fishing village of Tombo, where the grinding poverty of the population contrasts with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Tombo was the home of the academy of The Craig Bellamy Foundation, set up by the former Wales striker in September 2010, most of it funded by his own money. When a reporter from The Times visited just before the opening, he was struck by the “gleaming new buildings and newly laid pitch dug into the hillside”.
Now the academy, once the pride of both the village and the country, is barred shut and pictures show the once-lush pitch has become a dry, pock-marked reminder of happier times.
For some of the teenage boys, the academy has paved the way to overseas scholarships, but for others who once proudly wore the foundation’s shirts and had made Tombo their home, their dreams of a better life through football have been shattered. Former staff say some of the boys are now living in slum conditions, shunned by their families and with little hope for the future.
Bellamy, who played for Manchester City and Liverpool, decided to launch his foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007. He said at the time that he wanted it to be his legacy and told the parents of those in the first intake: “I want them to succeed in life as much as my own children.”
The Sierra Leone government provided 15 acres to build dormitories, staff accommodation, classrooms and training facilities. Bellamy, according to previous reports, put £1.4 million of his own money into the project and, at the start, support was provided by local companies including the Security Support Group International (SSGI) in Sierra Leone, which pledged to contribute $300,000 (around £200,000 in 2010) over three years in a package including cash, engineering, technical assistance and security.
Around 35 promising boys, most younger than 14, were selected from across the country, while a youth league was also established with the initial backing of Unicef for 2,400 children, which proved a huge success and had the added benefit that the parents could reclaim the £10 annual cost of their schooling.
Expatriate and local staff and volunteers were taken on but, when the chief executive of the Sierra Leone arm of the foundation resigned over a difference of opinion with the trustees in May 2013, he was not replaced. Some former staff members say they started to express concerns that the administration structure of the foundation was not adequate to satisfy the due diligence demanded by the large companies who would be vital if sponsorship was to be secured to guarantee the academy’s longer-term future.
Staff members have told The Times that they were frustrated about the lack of annual reports and accounts, and that a plea to appoint an independent and experienced trustee went unheeded. The first set of annual accounts was not registered with the Charity Commission until March 2014, three and a half years after the academy had been established. These show that, in the year to May 31, 2013, Bellamy contributed £297,848 — 85 per cent of the donated income that year. The next year he contributed £92,372. The accounts highlight that income from sources other than Bellamy was not enough to sustain the academy, and its fragile position came under pressure from the ebola outbreak in 2014, when nearly all the expatriate staff left the country.
A skeleton staff kept the academy going, with the 35 boys protected from the disease that ravaged Sierra Leone, and once ebola had been conquered, efforts were made to get it back on track.
Money, though, was increasingly tight. Tom Vernon, who runs the Right to Dream academy in Ghana and who had helped to set up the Bellamy academy, said that the ebola outbreak would have made it incredibly difficult to attract any funding from local companies: “Sustaining these academies is a really hard slog, an uphill struggle anyway and, after ebola, the local companies would have just been trying to survive themselves and not have any spare money.”
At the same time as the ebola outbreak, Bellamy retired from football and his earnings from playing ceased abruptly. Hopes that he would be chosen to take over from Gary Neville as Sky Sports’ main pundit also failed to materialise.
Despite this, the annual report submitted in March 2015 for the year ending May 31, 2014, was hopeful, saying that the aim was to increase the number of students and to “develop a fundraising strategy that ensures the long-term survival of the foundation”.
Bellamy, who played for Liverpool, decided to launch his foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007
Signed by Bellamy and Phil Baker, his fellow trustee and former business adviser, the report states: “The trustees are hopeful that a fundraising event will be held in the year to 31 May, 2016, which should put the Foundation in a better position.”
The financial position of the foundation is not known beyond May 2014, however. The Charity Commission’s website says that the next accounts are 343 days overdue and that the foundation will have received a default notice.
Hopes that there was a positive future after the appointment of a new expatriate manager at the academy last year failed to last and the remaining staff and boys were told last September that it would not be re-opening after the holidays.
For some of the boys, there was a lifeline from Kelsey Sullivan, an American who had originally worked at the Right to Dream academy and who has managed to secure scholarships for 14 of them in the United States.
Sullivan, 28, still accommodates ten of those boys at her family home in California while the others are at college or boarding school, but she she feels for those that were left behind: “We received a little bit of money each year from the Craig Bellamy Foundation but I have not heard from them for a year and most of the money has come from local fundraising in the US or out of our own pockets. It costs us about $100,000 a year.
“I know the kids that didn’t get to leave the academy on a scholarship are in a tough spot. Because it ended in a way that no one expected — and quicker than expected — there was not a great deal of long-term vision for those that did not manage to leave Sierra Leone on a long-term scholarship.
“I would just hope that they may be better off overall than if they had not gone to the academy.
“I think Craig had all the good intentions and the visions and then he has retired and circumstances in his personal life may have changed which made it a lot harder to sustain, because it is expensive and he paid for it out if his own pocket.
“Ebola didn’t help — it was challenging and I just tried to help as many of them as I could.”
For those boys not fortunate enough to gain a scholarship, the future is bleak. One former academy staff member, who still lives in Sierra Leone, told The Times that the boys were regarded as failures in their communities.
He said: “The boys were each given some money but they are not in a good situation now. You must remember we took some of these boys from the streets or their parents were very poor, and they do not have money to look after them any more.
“I have two of the boys living with me but others are not in a good position. Four of them aged between 14 and 18 are living together in one room in a place on the Fourah Bay road in Freetown.
“They also feel ashamed to go back to their communities, who look at them as though they are failures because they see others who have gone overseas on scholarships. They were given some money but the academy has not provided for their futures.”
There is still some hope for them, however. After learning of their plight, former staff members have been trying to raise funds and organise opportunities for those boys left behind.
The Times has made a donation to EducAid, an education network in Sierra Leone. If you would like to support the education of other children in Sierra Leone, visit http://www.educaid.org.uk/support-us/donate/.
Craig Bellamy 'devastated' by charity investigation
BBC
09/03/17
Concerns about former Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy's football academy in Sierra Leone are being looked into by the Charity Commission, the watchdog has confirmed.
The Craig Bellamy Foundation was set up in 2008 but closed in September 2016.
No accounts have been filed since March 2015.
Bellamy himself has appointed a legal team to examine any financial irregularities and his solicitor said the 37-year-old was "devastated".
Times investigation
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shatt ... 841c280360
TIMES INVESTIGATION
Shattered dreams and silence at the academy of hope
Craig Bellamy’s foundation was supposed to be a route to a better life but the future is bleak for boys now shunned by their families and living in poverty
Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter
March 9 2017,
The Times
Bellamy invested a reported £1.4 million into the academy, which opened in 2010, but last September the remaining staff and boys were told that it would not be re-opening after the holidays
GRAHAM HUGHES FOR THE TIMES
Two hours’ drive from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, a dusty road ends in the small fishing village of Tombo, where the grinding poverty of the population contrasts with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Tombo was the home of the academy of The Craig Bellamy Foundation, set up by the former Wales striker in September 2010, most of it funded by his own money. When a reporter from The Times visited just before the opening, he was struck by the “gleaming new buildings and newly laid pitch dug into the hillside”.
Now the academy, once the pride of both the village and the country, is barred shut and pictures show the once-lush pitch has become a dry, pock-marked reminder of happier times.
For some of the teenage boys, the academy has paved the way to overseas scholarships, but for others who once proudly wore the foundation’s shirts and had made Tombo their home, their dreams of a better life through football have been shattered. Former staff say some of the boys are now living in slum conditions, shunned by their families and with little hope for the future.
Bellamy, who played for Manchester City and Liverpool, decided to launch his foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007. He said at the time that he wanted it to be his legacy and told the parents of those in the first intake: “I want them to succeed in life as much as my own children.”
The Sierra Leone government provided 15 acres to build dormitories, staff accommodation, classrooms and training facilities. Bellamy, according to previous reports, put £1.4 million of his own money into the project and, at the start, support was provided by local companies including the Security Support Group International (SSGI) in Sierra Leone, which pledged to contribute $300,000 (around £200,000 in 2010) over three years in a package including cash, engineering, technical assistance and security.
Around 35 promising boys, most younger than 14, were selected from across the country, while a youth league was also established with the initial backing of Unicef for 2,400 children, which proved a huge success and had the added benefit that the parents could reclaim the £10 annual cost of their schooling.
Expatriate and local staff and volunteers were taken on but, when the chief executive of the Sierra Leone arm of the foundation resigned over a difference of opinion with the trustees in May 2013, he was not replaced. Some former staff members say they started to express concerns that the administration structure of the foundation was not adequate to satisfy the due diligence demanded by the large companies who would be vital if sponsorship was to be secured to guarantee the academy’s longer-term future.
Staff members have told The Times that they were frustrated about the lack of annual reports and accounts, and that a plea to appoint an independent and experienced trustee went unheeded. The first set of annual accounts was not registered with the Charity Commission until March 2014, three and a half years after the academy had been established. These show that, in the year to May 31, 2013, Bellamy contributed £297,848 — 85 per cent of the donated income that year. The next year he contributed £92,372. The accounts highlight that income from sources other than Bellamy was not enough to sustain the academy, and its fragile position came under pressure from the ebola outbreak in 2014, when nearly all the expatriate staff left the country.
A skeleton staff kept the academy going, with the 35 boys protected from the disease that ravaged Sierra Leone, and once ebola had been conquered, efforts were made to get it back on track.
Money, though, was increasingly tight. Tom Vernon, who runs the Right to Dream academy in Ghana and who had helped to set up the Bellamy academy, said that the ebola outbreak would have made it incredibly difficult to attract any funding from local companies: “Sustaining these academies is a really hard slog, an uphill struggle anyway and, after ebola, the local companies would have just been trying to survive themselves and not have any spare money.”
At the same time as the ebola outbreak, Bellamy retired from football and his earnings from playing ceased abruptly. Hopes that he would be chosen to take over from Gary Neville as Sky Sports’ main pundit also failed to materialise.
Despite this, the annual report submitted in March 2015 for the year ending May 31, 2014, was hopeful, saying that the aim was to increase the number of students and to “develop a fundraising strategy that ensures the long-term survival of the foundation”.
Bellamy, who played for Liverpool, decided to launch his foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007
Signed by Bellamy and Phil Baker, his fellow trustee and former business adviser, the report states: “The trustees are hopeful that a fundraising event will be held in the year to 31 May, 2016, which should put the Foundation in a better position.”
The financial position of the foundation is not known beyond May 2014, however. The Charity Commission’s website says that the next accounts are 343 days overdue and that the foundation will have received a default notice.
Hopes that there was a positive future after the appointment of a new expatriate manager at the academy last year failed to last and the remaining staff and boys were told last September that it would not be re-opening after the holidays.
For some of the boys, there was a lifeline from Kelsey Sullivan, an American who had originally worked at the Right to Dream academy and who has managed to secure scholarships for 14 of them in the United States.
Sullivan, 28, still accommodates ten of those boys at her family home in California while the others are at college or boarding school, but she she feels for those that were left behind: “We received a little bit of money each year from the Craig Bellamy Foundation but I have not heard from them for a year and most of the money has come from local fundraising in the US or out of our own pockets. It costs us about $100,000 a year.
“I know the kids that didn’t get to leave the academy on a scholarship are in a tough spot. Because it ended in a way that no one expected — and quicker than expected — there was not a great deal of long-term vision for those that did not manage to leave Sierra Leone on a long-term scholarship.
“I would just hope that they may be better off overall than if they had not gone to the academy.
“I think Craig had all the good intentions and the visions and then he has retired and circumstances in his personal life may have changed which made it a lot harder to sustain, because it is expensive and he paid for it out if his own pocket.
“Ebola didn’t help — it was challenging and I just tried to help as many of them as I could.”
For those boys not fortunate enough to gain a scholarship, the future is bleak. One former academy staff member, who still lives in Sierra Leone, told The Times that the boys were regarded as failures in their communities.
He said: “The boys were each given some money but they are not in a good situation now. You must remember we took some of these boys from the streets or their parents were very poor, and they do not have money to look after them any more.
“I have two of the boys living with me but others are not in a good position. Four of them aged between 14 and 18 are living together in one room in a place on the Fourah Bay road in Freetown.
“They also feel ashamed to go back to their communities, who look at them as though they are failures because they see others who have gone overseas on scholarships. They were given some money but the academy has not provided for their futures.”
There is still some hope for them, however. After learning of their plight, former staff members have been trying to raise funds and organise opportunities for those boys left behind.
The Times has made a donation to EducAid, an education network in Sierra Leone. If you would like to support the education of other children in Sierra Leone, visit http://www.educaid.org.uk/support-us/donate/.
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Re: Shattered dreams & silence at Bellamy's academy of hope
Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:10 pm
What a real shame. Now if some of the UK's overseas budget was used on things like this then we would all be a little happier.
Re: Shattered dreams & silence at Bellamy's academy of hope
Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:25 pm
Tony Blue Williams wrote:What a real shame. Now if some of the UK's overseas budget was used on things like this then we would all be a little happier.
Totally agree, more beneficial than spending 5m on a Nigerian girl band Hmmm
Re: Shattered dreams & silence at Bellamy's academy of hope
Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:27 pm
Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leone contacted by Charity Commission amid claims of financial mismanagement
Daily Mail
Thursday 9th March 2017
The Charity Commission is looking into the sudden closure of the Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leone after teenage boys were reportedly left living in squalid conditions.
Two former members of staff at the academy for aspiring footballers in the west African country say four of the boys are sharing one small room with no toilet or cooking facilities.
Given that the academy provided their education as well as their football training, and the boys have been shunned by their families, there is concern for their future.
Craig Bellamy pictured at his Foundation in Freetown, Sierra Leone back in January 2012
An investigation by Martyn Ziegler of The Times found that the Foundation, established in September 2010 and funded by £1.4million of Bellamy's own money, was closed without warning last September.
Former staff members told the newspaper that the academy, based in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, did not have a sustainable structure and has financial irregularities.
Ex-Liverpool and Manchester City striker Bellamy has appointed a legal team to look into these possible irregularities in the running of the Foundation and its finances.
A statement issued to The Times by Bellamy's solicitor read: 'Mr Bellamy has recently appointed a new legal team to investigate any irregularities in the management of his financial affairs.'
Bellamy poured £1.4million of his own money into creating the Foundation, but it closed suddenly last year amid claims of financial mismanagement
The Charity Commission confirmed to Sportsmail that concerns had been raised about the Foundation but that a formal investigation had not yet been opened.
A statement read: 'I can confirm that concerns have been raised with us about The Craig Bellamy Foundation and the closure of its academy in Sierra Leone.
'We are assessing these concerns to determine what, if any, role there might be for the Commission. As part of our engagement, we are reminding trustees of their duty to file their outstanding financial accounts.
'Trustees must account to the public and donors for their income and expenditure, and the failure to do so may give rise to concerns about the governance and administration of a charity.'
The commission sent the foundation's trustees a default notice because their accounts are 343 days overdue and only two years' worth of account have been filed since 2010.
Former staff and volunteers said that potential sponsors to keep the Foundation running were deterred by the lack of accounts filed to the authorities.
At its peak, 35 promising young footballers received their education at the Foundation
At its peak, 35 promising young footballers received their education at the Foundation
Bellamy, the former Wales international, set up the foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007 and put £1.4million of his own money into the project.
The Sierra Leone government donated 15 acres of land for the construction of training facilities and accommodation, as well as classrooms.
Initially, 35 promising young footballers, most under the age of 14, were selected from across the country.
At its height, the Foundation set up a youth league that helped around 2,400 boys and girls.
But former staff members told The Times that, although Bellamy deserved credit for extensively funding the project, a lasting structure was never put in place.
When the Foundation closed last year, no plan was put in place to safeguard the future of the boys enrolled, aside from an £800 donation from a local business.
One local told The Times: 'It was sad when the academy closed but what is heart-breaking is to see the state that the boys are left in.'
Daily Mail
Thursday 9th March 2017
The Charity Commission is looking into the sudden closure of the Craig Bellamy Foundation in Sierra Leone after teenage boys were reportedly left living in squalid conditions.
Two former members of staff at the academy for aspiring footballers in the west African country say four of the boys are sharing one small room with no toilet or cooking facilities.
Given that the academy provided their education as well as their football training, and the boys have been shunned by their families, there is concern for their future.
Craig Bellamy pictured at his Foundation in Freetown, Sierra Leone back in January 2012
An investigation by Martyn Ziegler of The Times found that the Foundation, established in September 2010 and funded by £1.4million of Bellamy's own money, was closed without warning last September.
Former staff members told the newspaper that the academy, based in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, did not have a sustainable structure and has financial irregularities.
Ex-Liverpool and Manchester City striker Bellamy has appointed a legal team to look into these possible irregularities in the running of the Foundation and its finances.
A statement issued to The Times by Bellamy's solicitor read: 'Mr Bellamy has recently appointed a new legal team to investigate any irregularities in the management of his financial affairs.'
Bellamy poured £1.4million of his own money into creating the Foundation, but it closed suddenly last year amid claims of financial mismanagement
The Charity Commission confirmed to Sportsmail that concerns had been raised about the Foundation but that a formal investigation had not yet been opened.
A statement read: 'I can confirm that concerns have been raised with us about The Craig Bellamy Foundation and the closure of its academy in Sierra Leone.
'We are assessing these concerns to determine what, if any, role there might be for the Commission. As part of our engagement, we are reminding trustees of their duty to file their outstanding financial accounts.
'Trustees must account to the public and donors for their income and expenditure, and the failure to do so may give rise to concerns about the governance and administration of a charity.'
The commission sent the foundation's trustees a default notice because their accounts are 343 days overdue and only two years' worth of account have been filed since 2010.
Former staff and volunteers said that potential sponsors to keep the Foundation running were deterred by the lack of accounts filed to the authorities.
At its peak, 35 promising young footballers received their education at the Foundation
At its peak, 35 promising young footballers received their education at the Foundation
Bellamy, the former Wales international, set up the foundation after visiting a friend in Freetown in 2007 and put £1.4million of his own money into the project.
The Sierra Leone government donated 15 acres of land for the construction of training facilities and accommodation, as well as classrooms.
Initially, 35 promising young footballers, most under the age of 14, were selected from across the country.
At its height, the Foundation set up a youth league that helped around 2,400 boys and girls.
But former staff members told The Times that, although Bellamy deserved credit for extensively funding the project, a lasting structure was never put in place.
When the Foundation closed last year, no plan was put in place to safeguard the future of the boys enrolled, aside from an £800 donation from a local business.
One local told The Times: 'It was sad when the academy closed but what is heart-breaking is to see the state that the boys are left in.'
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Re: Shattered dreams & silence at Bellamy's academy of hope
Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:29 pm
Craig Bellamy 'devastated' by charity investigation
BBC
09/03/17
Concerns about former Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy's football academy in Sierra Leone are being looked into by the Charity Commission, the watchdog has confirmed.
The Craig Bellamy Foundation was set up in 2008 but closed in September 2016.
No accounts have been filed since March 2015.
Bellamy himself has appointed a legal team to examine any financial irregularities and his solicitor said the 37-year-old was "devastated".
A statement issued by Bellamy's legal representative, Robert Price of Bowden Jones solicitors, said: "These investigations are ongoing and we therefore cannot comment further at this stage on any specific allegation.
Mr Price said his legal team would "assist all government agencies in their investigations".
The Charity Commission said it was assessing the situation but has not yet opened a formal investigation.
'Accountable'
"As part of our engagement, we are reminding trustees of their duty to file their outstanding financial accounts," a commission spokesman added.
"Trustees must account to the public and donors for their income and expenditure, and the failure to do so may give rise to concerns about the governance and administration of a charity."
The Charity Commission website states that no accounts for the foundation have been filed since 31 March 2015.
Bellamy was moved to start the charity after visiting Sierra Leone while a Liverpool player.
The academy offered five-year scholarships to children aged 11 to 13 in the West African country and created a youth football league, which at one point took in about 2,400 youngsters - boys and girls - in some 70 clubs.
The academy stayed open while the country was hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
In a prestigious football career, Bellamy earned 78 caps for Wales and also played for the likes of West Ham, Manchester City and Newcastle.
He finished his playing career at his hometown club Cardiff City and is currently a coach in the Bluebirds' Academy.
BBC
09/03/17
Concerns about former Welsh footballer Craig Bellamy's football academy in Sierra Leone are being looked into by the Charity Commission, the watchdog has confirmed.
The Craig Bellamy Foundation was set up in 2008 but closed in September 2016.
No accounts have been filed since March 2015.
Bellamy himself has appointed a legal team to examine any financial irregularities and his solicitor said the 37-year-old was "devastated".
A statement issued by Bellamy's legal representative, Robert Price of Bowden Jones solicitors, said: "These investigations are ongoing and we therefore cannot comment further at this stage on any specific allegation.
Mr Price said his legal team would "assist all government agencies in their investigations".
The Charity Commission said it was assessing the situation but has not yet opened a formal investigation.
'Accountable'
"As part of our engagement, we are reminding trustees of their duty to file their outstanding financial accounts," a commission spokesman added.
"Trustees must account to the public and donors for their income and expenditure, and the failure to do so may give rise to concerns about the governance and administration of a charity."
The Charity Commission website states that no accounts for the foundation have been filed since 31 March 2015.
Bellamy was moved to start the charity after visiting Sierra Leone while a Liverpool player.
The academy offered five-year scholarships to children aged 11 to 13 in the West African country and created a youth football league, which at one point took in about 2,400 youngsters - boys and girls - in some 70 clubs.
The academy stayed open while the country was hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
In a prestigious football career, Bellamy earned 78 caps for Wales and also played for the likes of West Ham, Manchester City and Newcastle.
He finished his playing career at his hometown club Cardiff City and is currently a coach in the Bluebirds' Academy.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:13 pm
i think we aid pakistan to the tune of 126 million pounds 
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:34 pm
Sad State of affairs after all the money : time and work he has put into this 
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Fri Mar 10, 2017 3:09 am
What do you expect from the times? Just like the sun.
Craig Bellamy has worked his butt off to get this project up and running, even if it was for just a few years.
He invested a lot of time and money to give some kids in Sierra Leonne some form of hope.
Nothing is sustainable forever when you are the only supplier of cash.
I am sure those that went on to better things in football and those who were given a chance will have a different view to the times.
The charity commission? Bureaucracy again, jobs for the boys, earning far more than you or i!!!
Phew, rant over.
Craig Bellamy has worked his butt off to get this project up and running, even if it was for just a few years.
He invested a lot of time and money to give some kids in Sierra Leonne some form of hope.
Nothing is sustainable forever when you are the only supplier of cash.
I am sure those that went on to better things in football and those who were given a chance will have a different view to the times.
The charity commission? Bureaucracy again, jobs for the boys, earning far more than you or i!!!
Phew, rant over.
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Fri Mar 10, 2017 5:09 pm
I see that Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president has now put his oar in criticising the closure and saying its wrong to sell children hope and then let them down. What a lowly comment from the corrupt organisation that has let the sport down for years and needs to be abolished. Why don't they step in and support Bellamy's amazing effort with this project instead of putting it down? I guess they are still too busy lining their own pockets with bribes from Russia and Qatar and god knows what else. Does he think that by criticising a genuine bloke that has done something incredible off his own back will somehow avert attention from their despicable organisation? Beneath contempt.
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Fri Mar 10, 2017 5:45 pm
Better to try and fail than to not bother trying at all!
He didn't have to spend his money on this project.....
He didn't have to spend his money on this project.....
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Fri Mar 10, 2017 8:42 pm
GrangeEndStar wrote:I see that Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president has now put his oar in criticising the closure and saying its wrong to sell children hope and then let them down. What a lowly comment from the corrupt organisation that has let the sport down for years and needs to be abolished. Why don't they step in and support Bellamy's amazing effort with this project instead of putting it down? I guess they are still too busy lining their own pockets with bribes from Russia and Qatar and god knows what else. Does he think that by criticising a genuine bloke that has done something incredible off his own back will somehow avert attention from their despicable organisation? Beneath contempt.
Great post
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Fri Mar 10, 2017 9:05 pm
Yes, great post GrangeEndStar. Lots of what FIFA does really deserves to be held in contempt.
Re: UPDATED ' CRAIG BELLAMY IS DEVASTATED '
Sat Mar 11, 2017 11:06 pm
Craig Bellamy might have been naive in trying to establish an academy in Sierra Leone but at least he made a difference... and he doesn't deserve criticism from Gianni Infantino
Charity Commission looking into closure of Craig Bellamy Foundation in Freetown, Sierra Leone in September 2016
The football academy and boarding school closed without warning last year
Some of the students there have been left living in squalid conditions
Bellamy was trying to do good and always said initiative was not-for-profit
By Oliver Holt For The Mail On Sunday
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 11 March 2017 | UPDATED: 22:30, 11 March 2017
There are a couple things I have to declare straight away when it comes to my opinion of Craig Bellamy.
The first is that I was the ghost-writer for his autobiography, GoodFella, which was published in 2013. I got to know him well during that time. He is bright, engaging and articulate, a ghost-writer’s dream. I enjoyed his company. I still do.
The second is that a few years earlier, a sporting organisation in Rio de Janeiro called Instituto Reacao asked for help sponsoring the education of Arthur, a kid from Rocinha, a sprawling Rio favela. I asked Bellamy and Kieron Dyer if they would contribute and they gave a significant sum each.
Arthur became one of the best students in his school. He is now in his third year at the prestigious Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC) do Rio, studying Engineering. Bellamy and Dyer, who were stereotyped as brats when they were players, helped to change the course of Arthur’s life.
It was a drop in the ocean but they were willing to do something, at least, which is more than most of us do. By then, Bellamy was also heavily involved in setting up a football academy outside Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Inspired by a visit to the country to see a friend in 2007, he ploughed more than £1million of his own money into the establishment and maintenance of the academy and helped to fund a national league in Sierra Leone .
In the following years, the academy sent 10 boys to college in the US on football scholarships and one to Denmark. Whether you think the US is the land of milk and honey or not, it is a fair bet that their lives improved.
Bellamy said that helping them was the best thing he had ever done and that he hoped he would be remembered more for his work in West Africa than for his goals for Newcastle, Liverpool, West Ham and Cardiff.
Bellamy was desperate to try to make the academy self-sustaining. He knew that when his playing career came to an end, he would not be able to keep paying hundreds of thousands of pounds towards its upkeep.
Bellamy poured £1.4million of his own money into creating the Foundation, but it closed suddenly last year amid claims of financial mismanagement
He flew out to Freetown as often as a Premier League career would allow but no sponsors came forward and the Ebola outbreak that dealt Sierra Leone such a devastating blow made investment in football seem rather peripheral.
Bellamy tried as best he could. He employed sponsorship managers to try to raise funds. They kept coming up empty. In the end, he had to admit defeat and the academy closed last September. He found it hard to take but was proud of the good he had done. He had tried to make a difference in a country most people ignore.
The demise of the academy was reported last week. There were legitimate questions to be posed about why it had folded and they were duly asked.
Where had Bellamy’s money gone? Why had accounts from the Craig Bellamy Foundation not been filed since 2015? Was the academy properly regulated? What was its relationship with the Sierra Leone FA?
There were also poignant accounts of what had happened to some of the kids who were among the last residents. Some of them were living in squalid conditions in a nearby village. Sierra Leone’s poverty had swallowed them back up.
It is right that charity initiatives should be properly scrutinised like this by good journalists. Bellamy was clear from the start that his academy was a not-for-profit organisation and he abided by that. But not every organisation in this area can say the same.
Football academies in Africa and elsewhere can sometimes be fronts for cynical money-making exercises. Some see young footballers as a lucrative opportunity. They see the money swilling around in the European game and sense the chance for a new kind of people-trafficking. But now for the bitterly amusing part.
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, chose to get involved and castigated Bellamy as if FIFA were somehow a moral authority on matters of this nature.
And so the head of one of the most corrupt, venal, sick, cynical, exploitative, debased, discredited and greedy organisations in the world, condemned Bellamy for all those years of trying to help children in Sierra Leone.
‘It is not right to sell hope to some kids, boys or girls, and then let them down,’ said Infantino.
‘They have to be sustainable, they have to be seriously managed and they have to be realistic as well. The worst thing is indeed to abuse the dream that many kids and their families can have in countries where it is more difficult to live.’
I wonder how much FIFA, with their billions in television revenue, contributed to Bellamy’s academy. I wonder how much they helped. I wonder how much they have done to improve the football infrastructure in Sierra Leone, as Bellamy had done with his efforts to fund a youth league.
Maybe Bellamy was naive. Maybe he was badly advised. Maybe he was too ambitious. But, for a while, he made a difference.
He was genuine in his desire to help. And for people who made no difference at all to be sneering at him now is rather sad and dispiriting.
In England, we condemn footballers for their conspicuous consumption and the way they squander wealth on empty symbols of lavish living. And when they give their time and money to trying to improve lives in a country most of us would be too timid even to visit, we condemn them for that, too.
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Charity Commission looking into closure of Craig Bellamy Foundation in Freetown, Sierra Leone in September 2016
The football academy and boarding school closed without warning last year
Some of the students there have been left living in squalid conditions
Bellamy was trying to do good and always said initiative was not-for-profit
By Oliver Holt For The Mail On Sunday
PUBLISHED: 22:30, 11 March 2017 | UPDATED: 22:30, 11 March 2017
There are a couple things I have to declare straight away when it comes to my opinion of Craig Bellamy.
The first is that I was the ghost-writer for his autobiography, GoodFella, which was published in 2013. I got to know him well during that time. He is bright, engaging and articulate, a ghost-writer’s dream. I enjoyed his company. I still do.
The second is that a few years earlier, a sporting organisation in Rio de Janeiro called Instituto Reacao asked for help sponsoring the education of Arthur, a kid from Rocinha, a sprawling Rio favela. I asked Bellamy and Kieron Dyer if they would contribute and they gave a significant sum each.
Arthur became one of the best students in his school. He is now in his third year at the prestigious Pontificia Universidade Catolica (PUC) do Rio, studying Engineering. Bellamy and Dyer, who were stereotyped as brats when they were players, helped to change the course of Arthur’s life.
It was a drop in the ocean but they were willing to do something, at least, which is more than most of us do. By then, Bellamy was also heavily involved in setting up a football academy outside Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Inspired by a visit to the country to see a friend in 2007, he ploughed more than £1million of his own money into the establishment and maintenance of the academy and helped to fund a national league in Sierra Leone .
In the following years, the academy sent 10 boys to college in the US on football scholarships and one to Denmark. Whether you think the US is the land of milk and honey or not, it is a fair bet that their lives improved.
Bellamy said that helping them was the best thing he had ever done and that he hoped he would be remembered more for his work in West Africa than for his goals for Newcastle, Liverpool, West Ham and Cardiff.
Bellamy was desperate to try to make the academy self-sustaining. He knew that when his playing career came to an end, he would not be able to keep paying hundreds of thousands of pounds towards its upkeep.
Bellamy poured £1.4million of his own money into creating the Foundation, but it closed suddenly last year amid claims of financial mismanagement
He flew out to Freetown as often as a Premier League career would allow but no sponsors came forward and the Ebola outbreak that dealt Sierra Leone such a devastating blow made investment in football seem rather peripheral.
Bellamy tried as best he could. He employed sponsorship managers to try to raise funds. They kept coming up empty. In the end, he had to admit defeat and the academy closed last September. He found it hard to take but was proud of the good he had done. He had tried to make a difference in a country most people ignore.
The demise of the academy was reported last week. There were legitimate questions to be posed about why it had folded and they were duly asked.
Where had Bellamy’s money gone? Why had accounts from the Craig Bellamy Foundation not been filed since 2015? Was the academy properly regulated? What was its relationship with the Sierra Leone FA?
There were also poignant accounts of what had happened to some of the kids who were among the last residents. Some of them were living in squalid conditions in a nearby village. Sierra Leone’s poverty had swallowed them back up.
It is right that charity initiatives should be properly scrutinised like this by good journalists. Bellamy was clear from the start that his academy was a not-for-profit organisation and he abided by that. But not every organisation in this area can say the same.
Football academies in Africa and elsewhere can sometimes be fronts for cynical money-making exercises. Some see young footballers as a lucrative opportunity. They see the money swilling around in the European game and sense the chance for a new kind of people-trafficking. But now for the bitterly amusing part.
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, chose to get involved and castigated Bellamy as if FIFA were somehow a moral authority on matters of this nature.
And so the head of one of the most corrupt, venal, sick, cynical, exploitative, debased, discredited and greedy organisations in the world, condemned Bellamy for all those years of trying to help children in Sierra Leone.
‘It is not right to sell hope to some kids, boys or girls, and then let them down,’ said Infantino.
‘They have to be sustainable, they have to be seriously managed and they have to be realistic as well. The worst thing is indeed to abuse the dream that many kids and their families can have in countries where it is more difficult to live.’
I wonder how much FIFA, with their billions in television revenue, contributed to Bellamy’s academy. I wonder how much they helped. I wonder how much they have done to improve the football infrastructure in Sierra Leone, as Bellamy had done with his efforts to fund a youth league.
Maybe Bellamy was naive. Maybe he was badly advised. Maybe he was too ambitious. But, for a while, he made a difference.
He was genuine in his desire to help. And for people who made no difference at all to be sneering at him now is rather sad and dispiriting.
In England, we condemn footballers for their conspicuous consumption and the way they squander wealth on empty symbols of lavish living. And when they give their time and money to trying to improve lives in a country most of us would be too timid even to visit, we condemn them for that, too.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z4b3rpJVEu
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