Umthombo Street Children is a project run by former street children and professional social workers. It is based in Durban, South Africa – the South African city with the highest street children population. In partnership with Umthombo, the Old Mutual Group will fund a program dedicated to training a team of former street children to become skilled football coaches. This program is called Kick-Start.

As a practical solution, Kick-Start will give street children a real opportunity to get involved in football related activities such as coaching and mentoring teams. The hope is that this will draw them into other education programmes as they learn to trust and relate to others around them. The program seeks to offer them a better chance of rejoining society and putting life on the streets behind them.

Kick-Start will also allow children who show real footballing talent to get the support they need to make their dreams come true. As an initiative, it will work well with our existing link to Dreamfields and the Old Mutual Football Academy and is a genuine attempt to harness the power of football and use it as a catalyst for improving the lives of those less fortunate.
The Old Mutual Group Football Tournament is about having fun and making connections with your colleagues in the Group but it’s also about making a difference in the lives of street children. Good luck!

Find out more about how Old Mutual and Umthombo are working together.