Recently, Saigon – Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB) and Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) have chosen the form of digital training to equip Young Leaders with Proactive Adaptive skills through practical lessons. This is the first time the training programme has been held on a remote digital platform. 40 talented Young Leaders representing 05 SOS Children’s Villages in Vietnam have participated in the programme.
After the success of four consecutive training seasons held from 2017 to 2019 with the mission of “connecting prosperity and giving wings to dreams”, SHB and MCFC continued to implement the Young Leader online training program for the youth community at SOS villages in the Central region during the two days of July 17, 2020 and July 24, 2020. This is also the second training programme in 2020. Before that, coaches from MCFC had taught directly for 4 days, from 8 to 11 of January, 2020 at Da Nang SOS Children’s Village.
The difference of this training programme is that MCFC together with the Official Cityzens Giving Partner, SHB, implemented the Young Leader online training program for disadvantaged children aged 15-17 years in SOS Children’s Villages around the world. In normal circumstances the sessions would have taken place in person, but due to restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants joined remotely for the first time. In Vietnam, 40 Young Leaders from 5 SOS Children’s Villages (Da Nang, Hue, Dong Hoi, Quy Nhon and Pleiku) participated in the online training programme.
MCFC coaches designed training modules including adapting community football for social distancing, developing specific programmes in response to COVID-19 and education on WASH, numeracy, and literacy through football. The training contents are aimed at improving capacity and soft skills for Young Leaders, proactively adapting in difficult times and working together to support the community to recover from COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Young Leaders in Vietnam watched online lectures of MCFC coaches
In the difficult context of the epidemic, SHB and MCFC are also typical organizations for proactively adapting to the new situation. Specifically, SHB has actively implemented a credit package of VND 25,000 billion with many incentives on lending interest rates, banking service fees, especially reducing the minimum lending interest rate by at least 2% per year compared to normal interest rate for both existing and new customers who are in difficulty due to Covid 19 epidemic. In addition to the preferential interest rate packages, SHB continues to implement debt restructuring, debt rescheduling and maintenance of debt groups as well as interest and fee exemption and reduction for customers having difficulties due to impact of the epidemic to support customers the most comprehensively. At the same time, since the beginning of the year, the total amount of money which SHB and companies of businessman Do Quang Hien supported the Government and the people of the country in the fight against Covid 19 is nearly VND 55 billion.
On the Manchester City side, the club has been actively participating in activities help vulnerable people during the Covid19 pandemic and make a positive difference to the recovery of our communities. This season’s Carabao Cup champions and Premier League runners-up will continue to lead campaigns which will focus donations, expertise, facilities, resources and voice to help those in need.
Speaking about the meaning of the programme, Mr. Nguyen Van Le – General Director of SHB said: “Bringing good values to the community, particularly through development of the younger generation, is one of SHB’s missions. This is a part of the humanity culture that SHB is keen to maintain and develop alongside the wider organisation. This year’s virtual Young Leader Training initiative in Vietnam continues to demonstrate social responsibility while showcasing timely adaptation in the context of the Covid epidemic. We fully support Manchester City’s positive contributions to young people in Vietnam and are ready to accompany MCFC in other community activities moving forward”.
Mr.Tom Pitchon, Director of City Football Group Foundation, said: “Recent circumstances have required all of us to adapt and innovate. We are very proud to have hosted the first digital training for young leaders in Da Nang alongside SHB Bank. Community spirit has never been more important than in the face of this pandemic and it is vital that our young leaders feel connected and empowered with the knowledge they need to continue supporting recovery efforts through football.”
MCFC is one of the major football brands of the Premier League and the world, with tens of millions of fans around the globe. Besides football exchanges, the two sides have had a long-term cooperation in issuing co-branded cards. These include international debit card “ManCity – SHB Visa Debit”, international credit card “SHB – ManCity Visa Cashback” with the image of football stars on the products which are easy to use at anytime, anywhere all over the world with superior utilities.
Since the beginning of the partnership (2017), with the support of SHB, City in the Community coaches have trained 160 Young Leaders from 11 SOS Children’s Villages in Vietnam. Young Leader training programmes have been organized continuously and synchronously by the two sides. After each training session, the young leaders will continue to develop their competencies with the remote support from City in the Community coaches.
“Fruits are born only when sweat falls on the plough”, Young Leader training programs will give wings to dreams, develop passion for football. Those Young Leaders will be the ones who spread what have been learned to many other children who share the same passion.