Craig Bellamy Foundation

When you think of Craig Bellamy, some of you may consider him in less than glowing terms. What some of you may not know is that he has invested a huge amount of his own time and money (over £1 million) into introducing football to the children of Sierra Leone. He is single-handedly the biggest funder of sport in this country. He has now got over 1600 kids playing football and he is funding the training of coaches, with a view of having more trained coaches in Sierra Leone than any other African country. One of the rules of playing is that the children must attend school and for those involved, school attendance has risen from an average 30% to over 80%. Not only that, children can increase the goal difference of the team by answering correctly questions about such issues as HIV after a match.

This is a fantastic illustration of an individual who thrives on having a sense of purpose. It has made him a more rounded individual (albeit still a vociferous one on the pitch) and getting a perspective that there are more important things than football (apologies to Bill Shankly!), I believe, has made him an even better player.

You can find out more at http://www.craigbellamyfoundation.org/