Leicester City Lead The Way In Helping Out Their Community

Leicester City has a proud tradition of retaining close links to their community and this commendable approach gained an even greater prominence in 2010 when the club was taken on by the King Power Group headed by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

The new chairman and owner of the Foxes was keen to introduce a culture within the club that was very much influenced by his Thai heritage and to this end a sense of inclusiveness was encouraged from the boardroom down. A family atmosphere was fostered among the staff and supporters while beyond the stadium a range of initiatives, community projects and grass-root schemes were either established or ramped up. A notable sidebar is that the late and much-missed businessman personally donated £2 million ($2.4 million) to help build a children’s hospital in the east Midlands and later gifted another million to the University of Leicester to fund medical research.

It is hardly a surprise then to learn that in this strange and uncertain climate, as clubs adapt to a temporary new role amidst a global pandemic, Leicester City can hold its head up high regarding deeds that have been committed to and decisions made to date.

Their announcement last week that no staff would be furloughed, with all permanent employees kept on and casual staff paid until the end of the season was admirable and a welcomed stance that was in stark contrast to five other Premier League
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clubs who chose instead to seek out financial assistance from the government. Three of those clubs – Bournemouth, Tottenham and Liverpool – have since performed a U-turn due to the welter of criticism their controversial intention received.

At the same meeting that addressed the financial security of their staff it was also agreed that a support system should be put in place to aid a number of local charities, including the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and there is a clear determination from the club to make available every resource they have both to those in need and to organizations that are at the forefront of responding to the coronavirus crisis.

City’s vice-captain Kasper Schmeichel was one of the players involved in the talks and a comment made soon after by the goalkeeper very much epitomizes the laudable position that has been taken.

“This is a difficult time for a huge number of people in our communities and around the world. We have a responsibility to make sure our actions now as a club are something our people can be proud of in the future.”

Meanwhile, an open letter from Leicester’s chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha on the club’s official website announced the launch of a charitable venture designed to assist causes that do valuable work in the community. Posted poignantly on his late father’s birthday, the ‘Gift of a Wish 2020’ program aims to support a cross-section of the community while a proportion of the funds will also be allocated to causes that are directly dealing with the terrible effects of the crisis.

Elsewhere on the website a fun resource pack aimed at primary school children kept at home due to the pandemic encourages them to learn by completing various challenges online while a campaign dubbed #Together1920 promotes a plethora of projects that endeavors to help adults with disabilities and the elderly.

Such benevolence and social awareness can be traced back to the thinking implemented by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha ten years ago but credit too must go to Leicester’s coach Brendan Rodgers, a man who on occasion has been affectionately teased by rival fans for his earnestness and somewhat romanticized view of football’s role in the wider world. Who for example could ever forget this poetic depiction from his time at Liverpool: “These are our people. I love running late in the afternoon, when the doors are open and the dinners are on, and you can smell the mince cooking…”

Yet the Northern Irishman has been instrumental in every major decision undertaken by the Foxes in recent weeks and perhaps it could be argued that in a time of crisis, when a feeling of togetherness is acutely needed, his assertion that a football club lies at the heart of a community now serves a real and invaluable purpose.

“This is a club with a strong set of values that behaves like a family,” he proudly stated following the club’s decision to pay its staff come-what-may.  “In times of crisis, your first instinct is to protect your family and that’s the response I’ve seen. I am proud to lead this group of players as we define and fulfill our roles”.

Determining what that role exactly is has been difficult for some clubs, and with no football to give them a Hollywood sheen they awkwardly reside on the edge of towns; so recently prestigious but now minus an identity.

That cannot be said of Leicester City, who are using their elevated status positively and without any airs or graces: mucking in and helping out.

They are a club their people can be proud of in the future.

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