The world’s longest multi-club football scarf, featuring more than 70 football clubs across England, Wales, and Scotland, has today been revealed to mark the launch of the Kellogg’s Football Campsprogramme.
In partnership with the English Football League, Manchester City, Celtic and Rangers, the football camps for girls and boys aged 7-14yrs will reach from Grimsby to Glasgow, Plymouth to Peterborough, supporting parents in keeping their kids active and entertained across the nation during the school summer holidays.
To celebrate the announcement, Kellogg’s is giving away 30,000 free places for the camps before they kick off this summer.
The news comes as new research shows that six in ten UK parents struggle to entertain their children throughout the school summer holidays. More than 8 in 10 parents want their child to experience less screen time during the break and the same percentage believe that team sport is hugely important to learn valuable life skills.
The 100-metre-long scarf represents the involvement of EFL clubs, plus Scottish powerhouses Celtic and Rangers. The impressive scarf is the result of more than 500 combined hours spent across design, knitting, and sewing with each club element hand-sewn by a team of specialists in Manchester.
Ex-pros came together at Birmingham City’s stadium, St. Andrews @ Knighthead Park, with EFL legends of the game including Jermaine Beckford and Michael Dawson, as well as children from local schools taking to the pitch to celebrate the launch.
To further show their support for the launch of the camps, Manchester City Women’s stars Chloe Kelly, Demi Stokes, and Ruby Mace surprised a group of young players as they trained at City’s Etihad Campus.
Chris Silcock, Managing Director of Kellanova (the company that owns Kellogg’s) said: “Most families will be within 15 miles of a Kellogg’s Football Camp, giving children up and down Britain an opportunity to get active this summer. Run by FA qualified coaches, the camps aim to be fun and to give girls and boys the opportunity to get onto the pitch and follow in the footsteps of their footballing heroes.”
Speaking on the camps, Nedum Onuoha, former Manchester City Player and CITC Board of Trustees member said:“Growing up in East Manchester, I took part in City in the Community summer football sessions, which were then led by Alex Williams, so I know first-hand the positive impact they can have on young lives. Now a Trustee of the charity, I am all too aware of the continued need for young people to access a safe and productive space during the holidays. Our purpose is to empower healthier lives through football – an ethos that clearly also rings true for Manchester-born Kellogg’s.”
Mike Geary, City in the Community CEO said of City’s involvement: “We are delighted to be working with Kellogg’s to get more young people active during the summer holidays. City in the Community has been delivering free inclusive football sessions out of term time for decades now, targeting local children who need it most. However, this new initiative will enable us to expand our offering during the summer by also welcoming those who sign up through the ‘Kellogg’s Football Camps’ initiative.”
Kellogg’s Football Camps sessions will take place throughout June/July* – September. Parents can sign their kids up atwww.kelloggsfc.com.
