Get the Point is proud to announce several events:
1. Our biggest event ever, the Knot Violence – Futbol for Peace Campaign is ready to go. We have trained some 250 sport coaches and teacher to help with the activity and education programs that will reach out to 60.000 kids in townships around Johannesburg and Cape Town during the FIFA World Cup this summer. In addition to the outreach program we will have 11 World Cup captains and soccer players, as; Gianluigi Buffon, David James, Gus Poyet, Aaron Makoena, Ballack and Palacios painting Knot Violence guns to be exposed at strategic places around the two cities as at the Waterfront In Cape Town. A successful press conference was held in London last week with some 20 major international media present. The Campaign is done in close collaboration with our partners TACK Training International and the Western Cape Education Board and the Gauteng Department for Arts, Sports and Culture.
2. Our “Imagine a World in Peace Campaign” is progressing. The campaign will start in December, 2010 by the unveiling of replica sculptures, interpreted by individual role models with world presence as Yoko Ono, WeiWei, Hugh Masekela, Fat Boy, Chuck D and several others. The launch events will take place in Liverpool and New York. The unveiling will be followed by national, regional and local tours of each sculpture in order to create funding for the implementation of the GPF educational programs and awareness across the globe. Our US partner for the campaign is Athletes for Hope, a well known US foundation founded by several international role models as; Muhammad Ali, Lance Armstrong, Andre Agassi and Tony Hawk.
3. The newly launched organization “The Non-Violence Project Scandinavia”, headed by Tomas Carlson and Thomas Magnusson and based in Malmoe Sweden has already shown great results in difficult school environments; The headmaster of the Linné school” in Malmoe stated; “ The Knot Violence Campaign has much strengthen our work regarding conflict management, threats and violence, communication and how we can develop the self esteem of our students”. Some additional 20 schools will receive training during 2010.
4. Last month Get the Point opened its second office in Brazil – this time in Rio de Janeiro. The head of the new organization is Mr. Bengt Bryngelsson a Brazilian Swede that has lived and acted for more than 30 years in South America. The Brazilian local office of our partner TACK Training International will also be a partner in our Brazilian activities. The Rio office will focus on the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Good news is also that our office in Curitiba in Southern Brazil so far has trained more than 100.000 young people, teachers and parents in the Parana region and they have 70 schools on their waiting list.
5. Based on the good results from the pilot project in Portsmouth between Portsmouth FC and the Portsmouth schools, we will develop our collaboration with Premier League and the British Football Association.
6. Get the Point acted as Key Note speaker on the subject “School Violence” at the UN Congress on Crime Prevention in Salvador, Brazil. This has led to several requests on our programs from school authorities and cities around the world.
7. We have initiated a pilot project in two schools in Kenya.
8. Get the Point has appointed a new Media Partner – Big Machine Media Ltd, with headquarters in London. Their focus will be the Football for Peace Campaign in South Africa and the Imagine a World in Peace global campaign.
9. Get the Point Foundation board member Johan Schotte decided to leave the Get the Point board has been replaced by Clem Leech, the Executive Director of our activities in the UK and South Africa. Clem is a former journalist and has been working with us for more than 10 years.
The Get the Point Team are grateful for your support and wishes you a nice summer.
Verbier, May 8, 2010
Jan Hellman