MORE THAN FOOTBALL AWARD NOMINEE – BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN

MORE THAN FOOTBALL AWARD NOMINEE – BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN

EFDN is presenting the candidates for the More than Football Award. From an array of high-quality submissions for the award, the Bayer 04 Leverkusen project The Good Neighbour has been selected for the initial 10 projects longlist.

The goal of the More than Football Award is to honour the best social initiatives in Europe delivered by a European club, league or FA by celebrating the work they do on and off-pitch on local, national and international levels. The winner receives not only recognition for having implemented the most innovative and impactful Community and Social Responsibility programme in European football, but also wins a complete branded Mini-Pitch System modular sports solution which will be developed in partnership between the winning organisation, EFDN and sponsor Musco Lighting.

The shortlist will be announced on the 29th of September. Shortlisted organisations will be invited to present at the 16th EFDN Conference in Breda, The Netherlands (9-10 November). EFDN members will decide on the winner by voting.

BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN – THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR

As a good neighbour, Bayer 04 supports local initiatives and institutions that face particular challenges during the pandemic. The club is doing this in cooperation with our employees, fans, sponsors, municipal stakeholders and all those who want to do their bit to help get through this difficult phase.

The main objectives of their project are:

• Support for socially disadvantaged.
• Strengthening the togetherness in Leverkusen.
• Financial support for local institutions whose existence is threatened by the pandemic.
• Encourage and support community engagement to address the crisis.
• Giving back to society.

Project Description

The project includes all the activities like Fan Actions, Fundraising, Challenges and Online Projects that have been carried out in the course of the coronavirus pandemic within the last year.

Some highlights:

• Bayer 04 macht Schule Online: Due to homeschooling, it was no longer possible to hold workshops in the stadium. Therefore, we revised our content and offered online modules on media literacy. This way, we were able to educate children and parents on the topic of media literacy even during the lockdown – a particularly important topic at the moment. In addition, we provided information on the correct behaviour on the internet on Bayer 04’s Snapchat channel.

• Walking Football Online Training: Instead of the regular training, body weight exercises, adapted to the participants’ abilities, were completed in Microsoft team sessions. Thus, the Leverkusen Walking Football Team with its more than 50 team members was able to stay on the ball. There was also a Home Video Challenge where different technique exercises were tried out.

• Die BayArena kocht: A cookbook created by Bayer 04 employees during the first phase of the pandemic was produced and offered for sale many times over. All proceeds from the cookbook – €15,000 – went to the Leverkusen food bank.

• Einfach Fussball Online Training: Online training sessions for our disabled football training group. The young people received training materials and clothing to take home so that they could continue their sport during the pandemic. The training sessions were made available on YouTube.

MORE THAN FOOTBALL AWARD LONGLIST

See the full longlist here. Follow our EFDN social media channels for more updates on the award and CSR in football.