PARIS and LONDON – Today Nissan is joining UEFA Foundation for Children and streetfootballworld to support grassroots organizations Sport dans la Ville in France and Street League in the United Kingdom.
Part of its mission to create a "cleaner, safer, fairer" world, Nissan is addressing the issue of the roughly seven million young people (15-24) in Europe who are Not in Education, Employment and Training (NEETs).
In the beginning of February 2018, the two-year partnerships in France and the UK are aligned with activities run by the Nissan Skills Foundation in the UK, which seek to encourage the next generation of talent in design, engineering and manufacturing sectors.
"At Nissan we believe in creating a cleaner, safer, fairer society through the power of our people and our products," said Stuart Jackson, VP Brand & Communications for Nissan Europe. "As an official UEFA Champions League partner, we are now looking to harness the power of football to create a fairer society and brighten the futures of young people across Europe."
Chairman of the UEFA Foundation for Children and UEFA president, Aleksander Čeferin, said: "Improving the employment prospects of underprivileged young people in Europe is a huge challenge for us as a society. We welcome this new partnership with official UEFA Champions League sponsor Nissan Europe, who recognizes its responsibility in society and lives up to this by investing in the communities they operate in to increase youth employability."
UK organization Street League's vision is to see an end to youth unemployment. Nissan will support "Academy" programs in the London and Tees Valley areas, which work with 20 young people at any one time over a 10-week period. In 2017 alone, Street League lifted 1,731 young people into employment, education or training.
"Street League are delighted to be working in partnership with Nissan to help even more young people find a positive future using the power of sport," said Matt Stevenson-Dodd, Chief Executive Street League. "Our Academies do this by offering a mixture of employability sessions, sporting activities and life skills development."
Sport dans la Ville is France's leading non-profit association, serving disadvantaged boys and girls aged six to 25 by offering sports and job-readiness training. Through its "Job dans la Ville" program, the organization provides individual careers support, mentoring, work experience and skill-building workshops. In 2017, a total of 1054 youths participated in the Job dans la Ville program across France, with 73% of participants subsequently attaining a job or position on an education program.
"Football has a proven ability to bring people together and change lives," commented streetfootballworld Partnership Director, Johannes Axster. "We're grateful that Nissan recognizes the potential for football-based social development programs to empower young people in disadvantaged communities, while also providing Nissan employees with the opportunity to get engaged in meaningful activities in France and the UK."
Contact
Angela Huang
CSR Communications Coordinator
YHuang@nissan-europe.com
Jesse Verstraete
General Manager Corporate Communications Europe
JVerstraete@nissan-europe.com
Phone: +33752664319
For more information about Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s products, services and our commitment to sustainable mobility, visit Nissan-Global.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, and view our latest videos on YouTube.
Get more news from Nissan in Europe here.