On next Thursday (13), the Futebol de Rua (Street Football) Institute will hold an inaugural event in Guarulhos to kick off the Futebol de Rua pela Educação (Street Football for Education) project with the support from the EDP Institute and sponsored by EDP São Paulo. The project will support around 150 children between 6 and 17 years old from three state schools. The launch event will welcome directors from the Education and Sports department, students and sponsors at the Pixinguinha School to introduce the project and carry out the inaugural football class.

At the project is based on the concept of education through sports, providing human development classes built on Fair Play rules (based on ethics in sports) and encouraging students to dribble and play beautiful football instead of simply scoring goals. Students will also be their own referees and they will be encouraged to talk to one another, build companionship and develop their leadership skills.

At the initiative will use an educational model focused on open dialogue which addresses themes such as citizenship, culture, sustainability, gender, health, sexuality, communication, the workplace and racism. Educational classes and cultural inclusion activities will be held throughout the year, including visits to football stadiums and student football tournaments.

“We currently support several sports projects across Brazil. We believe in the transformative power and positive impact these initiatives can have on the lives of young people. We are proud to be supporting yet another initiative”, said Paulo Ramicelli, board advisor at the EDP Institute.

In 2018, the initiatives support by the EDP Institute, an organization created eleven years ago to manage the EDP Group’s social and environmental activities, benefited over 60 thousand people in the company’s São Paulo concession area. The Institute invested over R$ 13.6 million in initiatives to promote Education, Culture, Sports, Volunteering, Social Development, Health and Income Generation.

About IEDP

Since its foundation in 2008, the EDP Institute has invested over R$ 100 million in social and cultural projects that have benefitted around three million people, through around 400 programs across the country. In 2018 alone, the organization’s initiatives benefited 80 thousand residents living in communities in the Company concession areas. The EDP Institute is responsible for structuring EDP’s social investments and initiatives, focusing on areas linked to promoting the Portuguese Language, education and local development alongside income generation, entrepreneurship and volunteering through sports, culture and health.